DeAngelo was arrested in 2018, three decades after the last strike by the “Golden State Killer”. (File)
Los Angeles:
Former US policeman nicknamed “Golden State Killer” pleaded guilty to 13 murders on Monday, as well as a confession to dozens of rapes, thefts and kidnappings, drawing a line under a wave of sadistic crimes that terrorized California for two decades .
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. admitted to being the notorious killer and rapist who had tracked down the state in the 1970s and 1980s, when appalling details of his crimes had been read at a plea hearing in Sacramento.
“The scale of Joseph DeAngelo’s crime wave is simply staggering,” prosecutor Thien Ho told the makeshift courtroom – a university ballroom transformed to allow victims to present themselves while distancing themselves. socially.
“Each time he escaped, he slipped silently through the night, leaving the communities terrified,” added Ho.
A frail-looking DeAngelo, 74, wearing an orange jumpsuit and a transparent face shield, simply grated “Yes”, “No”, “Guilty” and “I admit” to the judge’s questions, when he accepted the terms of the plea agreement.
Prosecutor Amy Holliday said the state was ready to abolish the death penalty and guarantee 11 consecutive life sentences without parole for the former Vietnamese cop and veteran.
DeAngelo was arrested in 2018, three decades after the last strike by the “Golden State Killer”. The manhunt finally ended after investigators successfully matched the DNA evidence from the crime scenes with a family genealogy database used by relatives.
He was initially charged only with the murders of Brian and Katie Maggiore, a newlywed couple shot dead in Rancho Cordova, a suburb of Sacramento, while he was walking their dog in 1978. At the time, there was no presented no pleadings.
But prosecutor Ho said DeAngelo’s crimes included “13 known murders and nearly 50 rapes”, as well as dozens of thefts.
“Original Nightstalker”
The limitation period for rape has expired, but all of the offenses were read by prosecutors at a hearing that lasted more than seven gruesome hours.
In one case, the judge heard how DeAngelo forced a victim to orally copulate him by threatening to cut off his ear.
A prosecutor choked on how the heads of murder victims were clubbed to death with a heavy object.
The known attacks began in 1975, initially in the Sacramento region of central California, before spreading across the state.
The frenzy apparently ended abruptly in 1986 with the rape and murder of an 18-year-old girl.
Along the way, the meticulously masked assailant received a number of other nicknames, including the East Area Rapist, the Diamond-Knot Killer and the Original Nightstalker.
In 1979 DeAngelo was dismissed from the Auburn, California police department for the shoplifting of a hammer and a can of dog repellents.
He retired in 2017 from a job as a truck mechanic at Citrus Heights, a short drive from Sacramento, where he has lived for over 20 years.
“Zilch of a human”
The DNA breakthrough in the cold matter that led to DeAngelo’s arrest came shortly after the hit crime book “I Will Be Left in the Dark” revived public interest in this matter. notorious case.
Its author Michelle McNamara – the wife of Hollywood actor and comedian Patton Oswalt – had died before his release.
“The most important people in the #GoldenStateKiller audience today are the survivors,” Oswalt tweeted. “All present, all looking directly at this zilch of a human being, and he cannot look back. That is what I am focusing on.”
The chants of “bye bye” and “so long” could be heard in the hall at the end of the hearing, with the trial and conviction scheduled to begin on August 17.
Many victims and families have died since the crime wave that occurred decades ago, prosecutor Holliday said, and the coronavirus pandemic has threatened to delay the trial even more.
The resolution of the case by agreement “for the time being” would allow the victims and the remaining families “to hear the accused admit that he committed these acts and crimes”.
In addition to its 11 consecutive life sentences, the agreement includes 15 concurrent life sentences for alleged weapons.
“The family members of the murder victims have waited decades for justice for their loved ones,” said Holliday. “Victims of sexual assault have waited decades for justice.”
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
