Paul Holes is an American former cold-case investigator for the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office. Holes is known for his contributions to solving the Golden State Killer case using advanced methods of identifying the killer with DNA and genealogy technology. Since retiring in March 2018, Holes has contributed to books, television, and podcasts about the Golden State Killer and true crime.
Holes was sworn in as an investigator for the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office in Martinez, California, in 1994. In the same year, Holes first discovered the cold case files of the East Area Rapist. His interest in the case was ignited and he remained close to the files, reviewing them any chance he had between active cases in Contra Costa County until a DNA break in 2001 expanded the case even further. When DNA from the EAR matched other unsolved murder crimes throughout California, the case again gained traction and had expanded in evidence. After years of gathering evidence and using as many DNA samples as he could without depleting the evidence, Holes made contact with genealogist and scientist Barbara Rae-Venter. Rae-Venter used DNA from the Golden State Killer to construct a genetic profile of the suspect and create a family tree that was detailed enough to narrow down the suspects to Joseph James DeAngelo. In March 2018, Holes visited the Citrus Heights home of DeAngelo on his final day as an investigator before his retirement. Holes watched the home for the activity of DeAngelo, who at the time was only a leading suspect tied to the Golden State Killer rapes and murders. Holes decided not to approach the home for fear of causing a disturbance or tipping off DeAngelo of any suspicion of his involvement as a suspect in the case. Using discarded DNA samples from DeAngelo's home, detectives were able to match his DNA to that known to be from the Golden State Killer. DeAngelo was later taken into custody by the Sacramento Police on April 24, 2018. While researching the EAR case, it began to be strongly suspected by some that another high profile unsolved case, the Visalia Ransacker, and the EAR were the same person based on evidence similarity. However, unlike the Golden State Killer case, no current DNA link existed. In a 2017 interview, Holes was skeptical of the link between the two, based on credible witness descriptions, but changed his mind after the DeAngelo arrest.
''The Murder Squad''
In 2019, Holes and investigative journalist Billy Jensen released a true crime podcast called The Murder Squad that explores evidence and discussions of current unsolved murders, unidentified remains, and missing persons cases. The weekly podcast is a production of Exactly Right, a podcast network created by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, hosts of My Favorite Murder.
Personal life
Holes is currently married and has two adult daughters and one adult son. Holes references his son broke his arm while playing on a playground in an episode of his podcast “The Murder Squad” season 2, episode 12: “Who Killed Ebby Steppach” 49:08-49:17
Holes became an internet sensation following the attention of his role while investigating and contributing to the writings of the Golden State Killer case with Michelle McNamara, the now deceased writer and creator of the famous Golden State Killer name. He has also been a celebrated name with Murderinos, fans of the My Favorite Murder podcast, which started the #HotforHoles fanbase. Holes has been published and featured in many media outlets in discussion with the Golden State Killer leading up to and following DeAngelo's arrest. 2000
