DeAngelo was arrested in 2018, three decades after the “Golden State Killer” last attacked. (Proceedings)
The Angels:
A former US police officer named the “Golden State Assassin” pleaded guilty to 13 murders on Monday, in addition to confessing dozens of rapes, robberies and kidnappings, drawing a line under a wave of sadistic crime that terrorized California for two decades.
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. admitted to being the notorious murderer and rapist who stalked the state during the 1970s and 1980s, as the heinous details of his crimes were read at a hearing in Sacramento.
“The scope of Joseph DeAngelo’s crime wave is simply staggering,” prosecutor Thien Ho told the makeshift courtroom, a college ballroom converted to allow victims to attend while distancing themselves socially.
“Every time he escaped, he quietly escaped at night, leaving communities terrified,” Ho added.
DeAngelo, 74, frail-looking, wearing an orange jumpsuit and a transparent mask, simply scratched “Yes”, “No”, “Guilty” and “I admit” to the judge’s questions, while accepting the terms of the agreement of guilt.
Prosecutor Amy Holliday said the state was prepared to remove the death penalty and secure 11 life sentences without parole for the former police officer and Vietnam veteran.
DeAngelo was arrested in 2018, three decades after the “Golden State Killer” last attacked. The human hunt finally ended after investigators successfully combined DNA evidence from the crime scenes with a family genealogy database used by their relatives.
He was initially charged with the murders of Brian and Katie Maggiore in 1978, a newly married couple who were shot to death in Rancho Cordova, a Sacramento suburb, while walking their dog. At that time, he made no appeal.
But prosecutor Ho said DeAngelo’s crimes encompassed “13 known murders and nearly 50 rapes,” as well as dozens of robberies.
‘Original night stalker’
The statute of limitations on violations has expired, but all crimes were read by prosecutors in a horrifying seven-hour hearing.
In one case, the judge heard how DeAngelo had forced a victim to copulate orally by threatening to cut off her baby’s ear.
A prosecutor choked on describing how the heads of murder victims were beaten to death with a heavy object.
The known attacks began in 1975, initially in the Sacramento area of central California, before spreading across the state.
The revelry apparently ended abruptly in 1986 with the rape and murder of an 18-year-old girl.
Along the way, the meticulous masked assailant was given a series of other nicknames, including the eastern area rapist, the diamond knot killer, and the original nightstalker.
In 1979, DeAngelo was fired from the Auburn, California Police Department for stealing a hammer and a can of dog repellent.
He retired in 2017 from a job as a truck mechanic in Citrus Heights, a short distance from Sacramento, where he has lived for more than 20 years.
‘Zilch of a human’
The DNA breakthrough of cold cases that led to DeAngelo’s arrest came shortly after the best-selling true crime book “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” revitalized public interest in the infamous case.
Its author, Michelle McNamara, the wife of Hollywood actor and comedian Patton Oswalt, had died before its release.
“The most important people in the #GoldenStateKiller audience today are the survivors,” Oswalt tweeted. “Everyone present, everyone looking directly at that human being, and he can’t look back at them. That’s what I’m focusing on.”
The chants of “goodbye” and “see you later” were heard in the courtroom when the hearing concluded, and the trial and sentence will begin on August 17.
Many victims and families had died since the crime wave decades ago, prosecutor Holliday noted, and the coronavirus pandemic had threatened to further delay the trial proceedings.
Resolving the case with an agreement “at this time” would allow the victims and remaining families “to hear the accused admit that he committed these acts and crimes.”
In addition to its 11 consecutive life terms, the deal includes 15 concurrent life terms on gun charges.
“Family members of murder victims have waited decades for justice for their loved ones,” added Holliday. “Victims of sexual assault have waited decades for justice.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated channel.)
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