US serial killer jailed for life
No possibility of parole for ex-cop who raped and killed dozens
A former California police officer who lived a double life as the “Golden State Killer” was sentenced to life in prison for a string of 1970s and ‘80s murders and rapes solved through the use of public genealogy websites.
A Sacramento County judge granted prosecutors’ request that Joseph James DeAngelo, 74, serve life in prison without the possibility of parole following emotional statements from victims or their family members in open court.
A seemingly frail DeAngelo showed no emotion during the nearly two-hour sentencing on Friday, held in a makeshift courtroom inside a ballroom at Sacramento State University so that victims and family members could spread out amid the coronavirus pandemic.
When given the opportunity to speak, DeAngelo rose from a wheelchair, took off a mask, looked around at surviving victims and relatives of those he murdered and said: “I’ve listened to all your statements. Each one of them. And I’m really sorry to everyone I’ve hurt.”
Prosecutors afterward said they did not think DeAngelo’s apology was sincere.
They also showed a video of DeAngelo in his jail cell, climbing on a desk and standing on one leg while cleaning, which they said proved he did not need to use a wheelchair.
In June, DeAngelo confessed to 13 murders and 13 rape-related charges for crimes carried out between 1975 and 1986 as part of a plea deal with prosecutors sparing him from a potential death sentence.
DeAngelo, whom a prosecutor on Friday called a bogeyman who haunted California for decades, also publicly admitted to dozens more rapes for which the statute of limitations had expired.
Prosecutors said he invaded 120 homes across 11 counties during his crime spree, initially identified with a series of rapes and murders around the state capital of Sacramento.
The identity of the Golden State Killer remained a mystery, his crimes unsolved, for decades until DeAngelo’s arrest in Sacramento County on April 24, 2018.
Investigators managed to tie DeAngelo to the crimes using a then-novel technique of tracing him through family DNA from commercial genealogy websites. — Reuters