Mass killer confesses to avoid Death Row
A FORMER policeman nicknamed the Golden State Killer has admitted 13 murders and dozens of rapes in exchange for spending the rest of his life behind bars.
Joseph DeAngelo, 74, had faced lethal injection if found guilty of the horrific crimes which began in the 1970s.
He preyed on so many victims a court was set up in the California State University ballroom to accommodate everyone.
Ironically it was the same Sacramento hall in which DeAngelo received a criminal justice degree in 1972.
In a wheelchair and wearing a face shield, DeAngelo admitted scores of crimes.
Staggering
They included 13 counts of kidnap for robbery stemming from sexual assaults and 62 other crimes including burglary and the attempted murder of fellow police officer Detective Bill McGowen.
Those he killed included a man who interrupted DeAngelo’s attempted rape of his daughter, 16, in 1975.
DeAngelo was given 11 consecutive life terms without parole and 15 concurrent life sentences for other offences.
As well as the Golden State Killer, DeAngelo was also known as the East Area Rapist and the Visalia Ransacker.
From 1975 he committed at least 13 murders, more than 50 rapes, and more than 100 burglaries, ending the spree 11 years later.
He was caught after police created a fake profile using his DNA from a crime scene.
Sacramento County assistant chief deputy district attorney Thien Ho said: “The scope of Joseph DeAngelo’s crime spree is simply staggering.”