SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The man dubbed the Golden State Killer made incriminating statements after his arrest and indicated he was driven by an internal force he…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
The man dubbed the Golden State Killer made incriminating statements after his arrest and indicated he was driven by an internal force he couldn’t control, a prosecutor said Monday.
Sacramento County prosecutor Thien Ho said that Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. was alone in a police interrogation room in April 2018 when he began speaking to himself.
“I did all that,” DeAngelo said, according to Ho. “I didn’t have the strength to push him out. He made me. He went with me. It was like in my head, I mean, he’s a part of me. I didn’t want to do those things. I pushed Jerry out and had a happy life. I did all those things. I destroyed all their lives. So now I’ve got to pay the price.”
Ho said the day had come for DeAngelo to pay that price.
DeAngelo began pleading guilty Monday to 13 counts of murder that will lead to a life sentence with no chance of parole. He will be spared the death penalty.
“The scope of Joseph DeAngelo’s crimes is simply staggering,” Ho said, including nearly 50 rapes. “Each time he escaped, slipping away silently into the night.”
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A former police officer who terrorized the Sacramento region as a serial rapist and went on to kill more than a dozen people across California and then evaded capture for decades pleaded guilty Monday to the first of 13 murders.
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. had remained almost silent in court since his 2018 arrest until he uttered in a hushed, raspy voice the word “guilty” to killing a community college professor in 1975, the first homicide in his decades of burglaries, rapes and other crimes that were later dubbed the work of the Golden State Killer.
DeAngelo acknowledged at the beginning of the hearing that he would plead guilty to 13 murders and acknowledge dozens of rapes that are too old to prosecute in exchange consecutive life sentences and no chance of parole.
The frail-looking 74-year-old sat in a wheelchair and spoke behind a plastic shield to prevent possible spread of coronavirus.
He was arrested in 2018 after authorities used DNA to track him through a popular genealogy website.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A former police officer who terrorized the Sacramento region as a serial rapist and went on to kill more than a dozen people across California and evade capture for decades said Monday he will plead guilty to murder and admit dozens of sex assaults.
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr.
