SACRAMENTO (US) – A Californian former police officer, notoriously known as the ‘Golden State Killer’ as he led a double life engaging in a series of rapes and murders in the 70s and 80s, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday. After evading law agencies for decades, he was finally traced through public genealogy websites.
Following emotional statements from victims and family members, a Sacramento County judge allowed the prosecutors’ request that Joseph James DeAngelo, 74, be given life imprisonment without the chance of parole.
During the two-hour court procedure the frail looking DeAngelo showed no emotion. The sentencing was held in a makeshift courtroom inside a ballroom at Sacramento State University to ensure social distancing.
When he got the chance to speak, he rose from a wheelchair and looked at those who had gathered there and said: “I’ve listened to all your statements. Each one of them. And I’m really sorry to everyone I’ve hurt.”
But prosecutors said his apology was insincere.
DeAngelo confessed in June to 13 murders and 13 rape-related charges for crimes which took place between 1975 and 1986 as part of a plea deal with prosecutors to spare him from a death sentence.
A prosecutor on Friday called DeAngelo a bogeyman who terrorised California for decades. He had broken into 120 homes across 11 counties.
His identity remained a mystery for many years until DeAngelo was arrested in Sacramento County on April 24, 2018.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field