Home where suspected Golden State killer attacked is now part of a quiet Goleta neighborhood

A Goleta Valley home where two violent attacks took place during the terror spree involving the Golden State Killer is now a quiet site with children walking by and neighbors watching out for each other.

Homeowner Linda Rouhas is reflecting on the comments she heard about the attacks after she bought the house on Queen Ann Lane more than 20 years ago but never worried about her safety.

She spoke in her driveway a day after the arrest of suspect Joseph DeAngelo in Sacramento County. He has been identified by law enforcement investigators as the killer responsible for 12 deaths and over 50 rapes and assaults in several counties. DeAngelo is a former law enforcement officer, but his ties to Santa Barbara County are unknown.

Rouhas recalls neighbors talking to her after she moved in saying, ” there was a murder here and I thought ‘ok well.’ Then they said the couple got away but there was a murder very close by and that they had not caught this person and he was all over the place.”

As the years went on detectives and investigators paid a visit to the site to see if there was something they could put together that is linked to the killer’s crimes in Santa Barbara County, Ventura, Orange County, and throughout the Sacramento area.

Rouhas said one of the investigators was retired but stayed on the case on his own time, “and he never gave up on this. He was tracking this person down on any clues and anything.”

One time a team of detectives came by. “I looked outside and there were probably eight men standing here, all in suits, and they were just looking around so I came out. They said they were still investigating this and they wanted to see where someone could get in.”

She also said the owner before her had installed an interesting array of alarm buttons. “They had door bells hooked up inside the house (in each room) so if you pressed the bell (button) it set off these huge alarms.”

During the October 1, 1979 attack at the house, a former FBI agent heard a scream and came outside where he chased the suspect for several blocks before losing him. A bike was located that was believed to be linked to the suspect and taken from a nearby house.

These days the neighborhood is family friendly with a kids path to school next to the home. Many parents were walking their kids and dogs Thursday evening and a neighborhood watch program is posted.

Rouhas gardens regularly and teaches piano. She says her neighborhood is “quiet and we have neighbors alert us when we have issues going on. I love the location of my house, it is a lovely neighborhood.”