Motive to Hurt Willick

• When DeAngelo joined APD in August of 1976, both he and Willick were patrol officers. However, Willick was quickly promoted to Sergeant, then to Lieutenant a year later, and finally Chief in the spring of 1979. 

• The conflict between them was the subject of multiple news stories and interviews after DeAngelo’s arrest:

Los Angeles Times, Sunday, June 19, 2019

• Willick gave several interviews in which he recounted DeAngelo’s anger with him over disciplinary actions starting in 1977, and continuing through August of 1979 when Willick fired DeAngelo. The firing was prompted by DeAngelo’s shoplifting arrest:

Los Angeles Times, Sunday, June 19, 2019

-On July 20, 1979, Joe DeAngelo was cited for shoplifting at the Pay ’N Save store in Citrus Heights. He was detained by store personnel after being observed placing a hammer in his pants, and a spray can of dog repellent inside his jacket. Store security believed that he was in the garden center trying to place the items on the other side of the fence, but gave up when he realized he was being watched. When confronted, his behavior was aggressive, and he kept trying to escape the store. Security carried him to the office, and bound his hands and feet to a chair while they awaited Sacramento Sheriffs Department deputies.

-When deputies arrived, DeAngelo claimed he had a head injury and was going to vomit. The deputy noticed a handcuff key on his ring and DeAngelo said he was former Roseville P.D. (internship 1972). He was thrashing about, making nonsensical statements, causing the deputies to believe that “he was mentally imbalanced.” An ID check discovered DeAngelo’s current employment with Auburn PD, and when confronted with that information, DeAngelo stated that he had been “acting crazy” to prevent them from finding out and contacting his supervisor.

-Deputies immediately contacted Lt. Montoya and Chief Willick and expressed their concern that DeAngelo was “emotionally unstable.” Following that incident, DeAngelo was suspended by APD and did not serve another shift. His termination followed a month later.

One of the few local news stories that identifies Officer DeAngelo includes Officer Willick. This incident is three weeks prior to the PG&E homicides:

• At the time of the above incident, and still at the firing of Officer DeAngelo, Willick lived on Sylvan Vista Drive. 

• Willick's next-door neighbors from Sylvan Vista were victims of unsolved homicides: Bill Harrington was shot in the head in Granite Bay in 1978; Mary Lloyd was stabbed to death in Auburn in 1985.

• On October 16, 1979, Willick moved to Oak View Terrace. This property was separated from the Kovacich house by the Sisters Of Mercy Convent.

• According to Willick, “shortly after he moved into that house,” his family began suffering scary stalking incidents. His daughter saw someone at her bedroom window with a flashlight, and they heard noises in the yard at night. Willick was contacted by the city’s claims manager and told that DeAngelo said that stress caused by Willick’s supervision made him commit the shoplifting, and his firing was unfair. DeAngelo said that he had gone to Willick’s home to kill him, and was the stalker.

• At that exact same time, in the fall of 1979, Janet Kovacich was attending Sierra College with Gary Kirksey, who reported a conversation he had with Janet concerning events in October/November, 1979. Kirksey recalled that one day after class, Janet asked him to walk her to her car in the parking lot. She explained that she was being stalked and followed by a person she thought she recognized as a member of law enforcement in the Auburn area. Although there was no sign of the man, Janet asked Kirksey to follow her to her freeway exit to see if he saw anyone tailing her. He did not see any cars following, and Janet did not mention it again.

•Willick has discussed disciplining DeAngelo over this incident where they were looking for a suspect in an alley, and DeAngelo exposed their position with his flashlight in an unsafe manner, related in this report by Officer DeAngelo:

DeAngelo also stalked SSD Detective Shelby after he made public comments about the EAR:

There is important crossover between the timeframe when DeAngelo was an officer with APD (76-79), and those who were still with the department in 1982: 

•DeAngelo worked with the following officers who were tasked with the Kovacich investigation:  Officers Steven J. Butts; Wayne Lankford; Michael Morello; Roy Johnson; Detective Greg Odin; Lt. Jim Larney; and, Chief Nick Willick. Dan Boon joined Auburn PD as a patrolman in January of 1980, shortly after DeAngelo's appeal was dropped, then quickly promoted to Detective (October of 1980). 

•There are two other important notes looking through the APD reports involving APD Officer Joe DeAngelo:  He is noted as the supervisor of Butts, Morello, and Lankford; and, DeAngelo's reports document that he was supervised by James Larney, Greg Odin, and Nick Willick. 

•DeAngelo knew, and had worked closely with almost every single member of law enforcement assigned to investigate Janet Kovacich's disappearance. He felt that he was treated unfairly by his supervisors, and was superior to officers who were promoted over him. 

•Were investigators unknowingly playing DeAngelo’s game of “cat and mouse” with one of their own? If so, APD was not the winner. They looked like idiots who could not keep the community safe, or catch the killer(s) of Janet Kovacich and Mary Lloyd. Pointing the finger at Paul was the only way to sooth their bruised egos, and when DeAngelo was identified, and they were even more embarrassed, there was no way Willick was going to go back and make things right. 

Click through the images below to see all reports in the two galleries

REEL ONE:  APD DeAngelo reports where he supervised officers involved in the Kovacich case

REEL TWO:  APD DeAngelo reports where he was supervised by officers involved in the Kovacich case

•APD Butts made all of the critical early mistakes in the Janet Kovacich investigation. He was hired at the same time as DeAngelo, and was supervised by him for much of the three years that they worked together. 

• DeAngelo would also have known that: if there were no obvious signs of a violent crime, Auburn PD would wait 72 hours before starting an investigation.

•DeAngelo was also uniquely positioned to know that all APD officers would be working overtime during the fair, and any investigation into Janet’s disappearance would get pushed to the following Monday—which it was. 

•This gave Janet's killer a huge advantage. Memories fade, and witnesses become confused very quickly. By Monday or Tuesday it was less likely that people would focus on a person or vehicle they saw the previous Wednesday, or even be sure it was that day. The first 48 hours after a crime are critical, and DeAngelo knew that. The timing of Janet's disappearance may have been carefully planned.