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The man accused of terrorizing California in the 1970s and 1980s pled guilty on Monday morning to 26 charges for his infamous alleged crimes in Sacramento.
The Golden State Killer was responsible for at least 13 murders and more than 50 rapes in a crime spree that spanned 11 counties from 1974 through mid-1986.
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., was arrested in 2018 in Sacramento County after eluding investigators for years. It was only the pioneering use of new DNA techniques that led investigators to DeAngelo, who is a former police officer himself.
Early on in the investigations, certain crimes were connected to an armed and masked rapist who would break into sleeping couples’ suburban homes at night, binding the man and piling dishes on his back. He would threaten to kill both victims if he heard the plates fall while he raped the woman.
"People were absolutely paralyzed with fear and changed the way they lived their lives, so that’s not something that just gets scrubbed even with the passage of time," former Sacramento County John McGinness said.
County prosecutors announced that in addition to the 26 charges, DeAngelo will admit responsibility for other uncharged crimes, including raping multiple women.
Judge Michael G. Bownman said that DeAngelo is expected to receive a life sentence without parole.
The deal will spare the 74-year-old any chance of the death penalty for 13 murders and 13 kidnapping-related charges spanning six counties.
In a setting due to social distancing guidelines in place during the coronavirus pandemic, Monday’s hearing took place in a Sacramento State University ballroom pressed into use as a courtroom.