DeAngelo says ‘I’m truly sorry,’ sentenced to life for Golden State Killer rape-murder spree
And then it was over.
Joseph James DeAngelo — the Visalia Ransacker, the East Area Rapist, the Original Night Stalker, the Golden State Killer — was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole after making a dramatic statement apologizing to dozens of his victims gathered before him in a makeshift Sacramento Superior Courtroom at Sacramento State.
“Mr. DeAngelo would like to make a brief statement,” public defender Joe Cress announced, and the defendant rose from the wheelchair he was in, took off his face mask and stood ramrod straight.
“I’ve listened to all your statements, each one of ‘em,” he said in a firm voice. “And I’m truly sorry to everyone I’ve hurt.”
The remarks were the most words he has spoken since his arrest two years ago, and the only signal of any remorse.
Few bought it.
“Total b-------,” said Kris Pedretti, who was 15 when DeAngelo raped her the week before Christmas in 1976.
“It was a sham, he was not remorseful,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.
“It’s too little, too late,” said Victor Hayes, who was victimized when DeAngelo broke into his home and attacked his girlfriend in Sacramento. “It’s really weak.”
“I was totally shocked he said anything,” said Ron Harrington — whose younger brother, Keith, and sister-in-law, Patty, were brutally murdered by DeAngelo 40 years ago Thursday. “Ultimately he didn’t say anything.”
‘The defendant deserves no mercy’
Immediately after DeAngelo made his statement, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman sentenced DeAngelo under a plea deal that called for 11 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, plus one life term with the possibility of parole and eight years for other enhancements.
“This is the absolutely maximum sentence the court can impose under law,” Bowman said, adding, “The survivors spoke clearly, the defendant deserves no mercy.”
As the judge ended the hearing, the victims stood and applauded loudly.
The judge called his acts “monstrous,” and said that while he understood that prosecutors agreed not to pursue a death penalty trial so that aging victims could live long enough to see DeAngelo convicted, that does not mean DeAngelo does not deserve a death penalty sentence.
“As I’ve listened to the victims, I cannot help but wonder what you are thinking,” he said. “Are you capable of comprehending the pain and anguish you’ve caused?”
Until DeAngelo rose and spoke, he had sat motionless and silent in a wheelchair for most of his court appearance since his arrest in April 2018.
He spoke only after Cress and public defender Alice Michel read letters from unnamed DeAngelo relatives who described a difficult abusive childhood DeAngelo endured and described him as a caring man who helped raise and care for his siblings as a youngster.
“I do not know this person known as the Golden State Killer,” the niece’s letter said. “I never saw anything that would lead me to believe in that.
“My uncle Joe was my hero.”
The letters drew groans and laughter from some in the audience.
Victims: ‘He’s not sorry’
After the hearing, prosecutors rejected the notion that DeAngelo was sorry for anything.
“He is a sociopath, by definition the word was written for him,” said Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, who led the cold case task force that finally caught DeAngelo.
“Mr. DeAngelo tried to pull a fast one on all of us, and we were witnesses to it,” said Spitzer, the Orange County D.A. “I’m not sure you saw how fast he stood up our of his chair. I’m not sure you heard how strong his voice is...
“That really upset me when he stood up and made his statement and tried to shift to the sympathy setting. They’re trying to get these people covering this story to say something nice about this monster.”
DeAngelo’s victims agreed.
Mary Berwert was Jane Doe No. 49 and said she didn’t believe any of it: “He’s not sorry. He spent the last week reveling in memory lane.”
“He didn’t apologize,” said Michelle Martin of San Ramon, another of his victims. “He didn’t sound very weak or feeble. He stood right up. He’s not an invalid. This was not an apology.
“That man doesn’t have a heart. How can you apologize if you don’t have a heart? I’m sorry for his children and grandchildren. But his wife was complicit. While the East Area Rapist was attacking all of these women, while the whole county was terrified, she was not concerned about her safety through all of that time?”
DeAngelo’s ex-wife, Sacramento attorney Sharon Huddle, has not spoken publicly since his arrest, but she issued a victim impact statement Thursday in which she said he had misled her about his whereabouts before they separation years ago.
Some prosecutors and victims have expressed sympathy for his ex-wife, three daughters and granddaughter.
“He didn’t just destroy your lives,” Spitzer said to victims gathered in the ballroom after the hearing. “Can you imagine being the daughter of Joseph DeAngelo?
“Going through life asking yourself, ‘Did he pass on through my genetic framework something that somehow makes me the same?’
“Or his former wife? The betrayal to their marriage in that relationship? He not only hurt you, he left a wake of devastation in his family members who have a part of him in them.”
Schubert, other DAs get final word
DeAngelo, who one victim has called the most prolific serial rapist-murderer in history, faced sentencing after the district attorneys from Sacramento, Contra Costa, Santa Barbara, Orange, Tulare and Ventura counties took to a lectern one-by-one on stage opposite the judge, and DeAngelo and his defense team.
Each described the heinous crimes DeAngelo committed, the years of work it took to find him, and the insistence they have that he will never walk free again.
Schubert quoted one of his victims as she looked at the defendant: “Mr. DeAngelo, there is no prayer strong enough to save you.”
She then insisted that prosecutors will ensure state prison officials are never fooled into granting DeAngelo early release or lighter treatment on medical grounds, a statement that drew sustained applause.
The hearing took place inside the University Union ballroom, where dozens of victims, relatives and supporters gathered wearing face masks and adorned with clothing specifically aimed at sending a message to DeAngelo.
One woman wore a black top with silver sequins that spelled out “Rot in Hell.” A man sported a T-shirt that read, “GSK/EAR DeAngelo — Locked up for Good August 2020.”
There was an almost jubilant feel in the room as many people who had waited decades finally got some measure of justice. And as district attorney after district attorney took to the lectern to thank Bowman for patiently listening this week to each victim’s story — with the judge repeatedly telling them to speak as long as they wanted or needed — the victims broke into spontaneous applause.
The sentencing comes after three days of anguish and celebration among his victims — “survivors” they call themselves — who appeared in court in downtown Sacramento to deliver searing, sometimes whimsical, sometimes angry victim impact statements to describe the havoc he rained down on their lives in a rape and murder spree that stretched at least from 1975 through 1986 all along the length of California.
Sacramento prosecutors Thienvu Ho and Amy Holliday guided the victims through their statements all week, and over saw his guilty plea on June 29 — in the same Sac State ballroom where he was sentenced Friday — to 13 counts of murder and 13 counts of kidnap for robbery counts related to rapes. He also admitted to dozens of other uncharged counts.
He is believed to have committed at least 50 rapes — most of them in the eastern suburbs of Sacramento — as well as other assaults throughout Northern California.
Where DeAngelo goes next
DeAngelo has been held in isolation in the Sacramento County Main Jail downtown since his arrest, and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials say no decision has been made yet on which prison he will be sent to.
“At this time, CDCR does not know where Joseph DeAngelo may be housed,” spokeswoman Dana Simas wrote in an email to The Sacramento Bee. ”All housing decisions for incarcerated people are made on a case-by-case basis taking into account that person’s security, medical, psychiatric, and program needs.”
CDCR said that “when a person is admitted to state prison at one of the institutions designated as a reception center, their information is entered into CDCR’s database.
“They are given an unclothed body search, photographed and finger printed. They also submit a DNA sample and are given state-issued clothing. CDCR staff also review documentation from the admitting county on how that person was housed. While they go through this process, they live in the Reception Center, a separate area from the general population part of a prison.”
However, he is not expected to be moved any time soon because the state prison system has temporarily halted intake of inmates from counties because of COVID-19.
Jail cell videos released
DeAngelo’s physical condition has been a point of contention. He has appeared frequently in court in a wheelchair and appears frail and virtually unable to speak beyond a hoarse whisper.
His victims also have scoffed at his frail appearance, calling it an act that has failed to garner him any sympathy.
Prosecutors say that is an act, that jail cell video of him shows he is agile and fit, and they had asked to play a video in court Friday to prove their point and eliminate the chance of him later returning to court to seek release on medical grounds.
The judge allowed them to file the video under seal, but denied the request to play it in open court.
After the hearing, with the file unsealed, Schubert played the videos during a news conference.
DeAngelo was seen, briefly, in his cell pacing back and forth regularly and appearing to be doing upper body exercises.
He also was seen climbing up on a steel desk to reach a light and cover it with paper to dim the illumination, an eerie reminder that during his crime spree he would shroud lamps and televisions with blankets to dim the light as he raped his victims.
What wasn’t shown but described in one court filing was DeAngelo a year ago performing a sex act on himself while watching someone outside his cell.
Schubert, who grew up in Sacramento while the East Area Rapist was terrorizing the region, said there still is no clear understanding of why or how he committed so many far-flung crimes.
“Honestly, it’s extraordinary that one human being had the time, the sophistication, the knowledge,” she said. “I mean, look at these crimes, some of them once or twice a week in all sections of the state, and you wonder if the man ever slept.
“Maybe he did feel in his twisted law enforcement mind that if I go to different counties they’ll never figure out it was me.”
DeAngelo was caught only after DNA from some crime scenes was plugged into a public genealogical database and found matching DNA from a potential relative. From there, investigators built out a family tree that led them to DeAngelo, who was the right age and had lived in areas where some of the crimes had occurred.
“I really believe it was a miracle that we caught him,” Schubert said, recalling the violence DeAngelo inflicted on some victims by “pulverizing” their faces so hard while he bludgeoned them that their teeth were later found in their lungs or hair.
“I mean, listening to some of the families, this man dropped an atomic bomb on our community, and here we are,” she said.
Update: East Area Rapist suspect captured after DNA match, authorities say
