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Joseph DeAngelo Pleads Guilty to Murder in Golden State Killer Cases Joseph DeAngelo Pleads Guilty in Golden State Killer Cases
(about 2 hours later)
The man accused of being the Golden State Killer agreed to plead guilty in Sacramento on Monday, more than two years after he was arrested using an investigative technique that has fundamentally changed how some violent crimes are solved in the United States. For decades, a killer was on the loose in California, terrorizing victims from the southern coast to the Central Valley to the Bay Area and the tidy subdivisions near Sacramento. As the years went by, he bore his way into the state’s consciousness, provoking manhunts and television shows, and the obsessive sleuthing of amateur detectives.
In front of victims and their families, Amy Holliday, the Sacramento County deputy district attorney, announced that Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., 74, had agreed to plead guilty to 13 counts of first degree murder across California in the 1970s and ’80s. He went by many nicknames — East Area Rapist, the Original Night Stalker, the Visalia Ransacker — before a last one took hold: the Golden State Killer. The final accounting of his crime spree was 13 murders and at least 50 rapes.
In addition she said, he also agreed to admit guilt in a multitude of crimes for which he was not charged, some of which passed the statute of limitations. The crimes began in 1975 and the case, finally, reached its denouement Monday in a hearing inside a ballroom at Sacramento State University that, because of the pandemic, was livestreamed.
Joseph James DeAngelo, frail at 74 — no longer the agile young man who sneaked into women’s homes, he had to be helped up when the judge entered the room — sat at a table, in an orange prison jump suit and wearing a plastic face shield. He was surrounded by district attorneys from several jurisdictions where he committed his crimes.
The hearing went on for hours, as Mr. DeAngelo, who was captured two years ago after being arrested using a novel DNA technique that has upended how many violent crimes are now solved in the United States, plead guilty, again and again, to 13 counts of first degree murder that he committed across California in the 1970s and ’90s.
In front of victims and their families, Amy Holliday, the Sacramento County deputy district attorney, announced the plea arrangement, which took the death penalty off the table in exchange for guilty pleas that resulted in 11 consecutive life sentences.
In addition she said, he also agreed to admit guilt in a multitude of crimes for which he was not charged, some of which had passed the statute of limitations.
Throughout the hearing, prosecutors from counties across California approached the podium and described a series of murders, rapes and burglaries in detail. Michael G. Bowman, a judge for the Sacramento County Superior Court, then asked Mr. DeAngelo for his plea.Throughout the hearing, prosecutors from counties across California approached the podium and described a series of murders, rapes and burglaries in detail. Michael G. Bowman, a judge for the Sacramento County Superior Court, then asked Mr. DeAngelo for his plea.
“Guilty,” Mr. DeAngelo said after each one.“Guilty,” Mr. DeAngelo said after each one.
The judge then asked whether he admitted the circumstances of the crime. “I admit,” he said, over and over.The judge then asked whether he admitted the circumstances of the crime. “I admit,” he said, over and over.
By 10:30 a.m. Pacific time, about an hour after the hearing began, Mr. DeAngelo had pleaded guilty in several of the 13 cases. More than three hours after the hearing began, Mr. DeAngelo had pleaded guilty to most of the 13 cases.
Asked by the judge if he understood he would receive 11 consecutive life without parole sentences, Mr. DeAngelo said “yes.”Asked by the judge if he understood he would receive 11 consecutive life without parole sentences, Mr. DeAngelo said “yes.”
The hearing was livestreamed from the Sacramento State University Ball Room, a space selected in part to accommodate in-person attendance amid the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. DeAngelo and his lawyers wore transparent face shields. After speaking, Judge Bowman put on a black face mask. The hearing was livestreamed from the ballroom, a space selected in part to accommodate in-person attendance amid the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. DeAngelo and his lawyers wore transparent face shields. After speaking, Judge Bowman put on a black face mask.
The prosecutors’ decision to take a plea deal, rather than go to a jury trial was driven in part by public health risks, Ms. Holliday said at the start. The preliminary hearing was originally scheduled for May, she said, but “It had to be postponed because of court closures and the danger is of bringing elderly or high risk individuals into the courtroom.”The prosecutors’ decision to take a plea deal, rather than go to a jury trial was driven in part by public health risks, Ms. Holliday said at the start. The preliminary hearing was originally scheduled for May, she said, but “It had to be postponed because of court closures and the danger is of bringing elderly or high risk individuals into the courtroom.”
The advanced age of many of the key players involved also played a role. “Many of the victims, witnesses and law enforcement are in their 80s and 90s,” she said. “Many these people all deeply affected by these crimes may not be with us at the time of jury trial.”The advanced age of many of the key players involved also played a role. “Many of the victims, witnesses and law enforcement are in their 80s and 90s,” she said. “Many these people all deeply affected by these crimes may not be with us at the time of jury trial.”
Mr. DeAngelo, a former police officer, had eluded the authorities for four decades before he was arrested in 2018 in a Sacramento suburb. Mr. DeAngelo had eluded the authorities for four decades before he was arrested in 2018 in a Sacramento suburb.
It was the first high-profile case to be cracked with genetic genealogy, a new technique that relies on identifying DNA collected at a crime scene by searching for the suspect’s relatives in genealogy databases. Investigators used a DNA sample that had been found at the scene of a double murder in Ventura County in 1980 to create a fake profile on a genealogy website. They were able to match the sample to distant relatives of Mr. DeAngelo.It was the first high-profile case to be cracked with genetic genealogy, a new technique that relies on identifying DNA collected at a crime scene by searching for the suspect’s relatives in genealogy databases. Investigators used a DNA sample that had been found at the scene of a double murder in Ventura County in 1980 to create a fake profile on a genealogy website. They were able to match the sample to distant relatives of Mr. DeAngelo.
Inspired by California prosecutors’ success with the technique, dozens of other law enforcement agencies soon began hiring genetic genealogists to apply it to decades-old murder and sexual assault cases. In rapid succession, police across the country made arrests in dozens cases that were long ago deemed unsolvable, further fueling excitement and encouraging a number of agencies to create in-house genetic genealogy units.
But as the technique has become increasingly commonplace, genealogists, legal scholars and some legislators have voiced concerns this revolutionary approach is violating the privacy of the people who join private DNA databases to learn about themselves — not to help police arrest their relatives for violent crimes. The fact that the approach remains largely unregulated, even as law enforcement has begun applying the technique to increasing minor crimes — such a burglary — has only fueled criticism.
The crimes associated with the man who would become known as the Golden State Killer began in the mid-1970s, and by 1977, after a series of horrifying rapes of women in their homes in Sacramento County, he was nicknamed the East Area Rapist. The community held packed public forums to discuss the cases that seemed to be occurring once every month.
“The fear in the community was like something I had never seen before,” Carol Daly, a former Sacramento sheriff’s detective, told The Times in 2018, after Mr. DeAngelo was arrested. “People were afraid wherever they went.”
Mr. DeAngelo, working as a police officer at the time, soon moved from rape to murder, killing a married couple, Brian and Katie Maggiore, while they were walking their dog in the city Rancho Cordova in 1978.
But in 1986, the crime wave suddenly stopped, leading to decades of speculation. Had the killer died? Had he moved to another state? It turns out, he settled into a quiet life in the Sacramento suburbs — working at a Save Mart grocery store in Roseville — where he was eventually captured in 2018.
As part of the plea deal, Mr. DeAngelo will avoid the death penalty, a decision that has produced mixed feelings among some victims and their families, who are eager to see this chapter closed but also want to see a man who terrorized so many forced to confront the allegations.As part of the plea deal, Mr. DeAngelo will avoid the death penalty, a decision that has produced mixed feelings among some victims and their families, who are eager to see this chapter closed but also want to see a man who terrorized so many forced to confront the allegations.
Gay Hardwick, who was raped in 1978 while her now-husband Bob Hardwick was tied up, said earlier this month that it was difficult to think of any punishment as sufficient.Gay Hardwick, who was raped in 1978 while her now-husband Bob Hardwick was tied up, said earlier this month that it was difficult to think of any punishment as sufficient.
“My view has been he will never be able to serve a long enough sentence,” Ms. Hardwick said. “He’ll never serve the sentence that the rest of us have served.”“My view has been he will never be able to serve a long enough sentence,” Ms. Hardwick said. “He’ll never serve the sentence that the rest of us have served.”
But, she added, “knowing that he has admitted responsibility is a big step toward closure for us.”But, she added, “knowing that he has admitted responsibility is a big step toward closure for us.”
Mr. DeAngelo’s public defenders had sought to spare him from the death penalty, which California last used in 2006. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in California, which he said had failed to deter violent crimes and disproportionately harmed people of color.Mr. DeAngelo’s public defenders had sought to spare him from the death penalty, which California last used in 2006. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in California, which he said had failed to deter violent crimes and disproportionately harmed people of color.
“I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,” a documentary about the case and about Michelle McNamara, an author who spent years trying to solve it, aired on HBO on Sunday night.“I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,” a documentary about the case and about Michelle McNamara, an author who spent years trying to solve it, aired on HBO on Sunday night.