A US former policeman dubbed the “Golden State Killer” pleaded guilty to 13 murders Monday, as well as confessing to dozens of rapes, robberies and kidnappings, drawing a line under a sadistic crime spree that terrorized California for two decades. Joseph DeAngelo Jr. admitted to being the notorious killer and rapist who stalked the state during the 1970s and 1980s, as the appalling details of his crimes were read out at a plea hearing held in Sacramento.
“The scope of Joseph DeAngelo’s crime spree is simply staggering,” prosecutor Thien Ho told the makeshift courtroom – a university ballroom converted to allow victims to attend while social distancing.
“Each time he escaped, slipping away silently into the night, leaving communities terrified,” Ho added.
A frail-looking DeAngelo, 74, wheeled in wearing an orange jumpsuit and a clear face shield, rasped simply “Yes,” “No,” “Guilty” and “I admit” to the judge’s questions, as he consented to the terms of the plea deal.
Prosecutor Amy Holliday said the state was prepared to remove the death penalty and secure 11 consecutive life terms without parole for the former cop and Vietnam veteran.
DeAngelo was arrested in 2018, three decades after the “Golden State Killer” had last struck. The manhunt finally ended after investigators successfully matched DNA evidence from crime scenes with a family genealogy database used by his relatives.
He was initially charged with only the 1978 murders of Brian and Katie Maggiore, a newlywed couple who were shot dead in Rancho Cordova, a Sacramento suburb, while walking their dog. At the time, he entered no plea.
But prosecutor Ho said DeAngelo’s crimes encompassed “13 known murders and almost 50 rapes,” as well as dozens of robberies.
The statute of limitations for the rapes have expired, but all offences were read out by prosecutors in a hearing that stretched over seven grisly hours.
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