Exclusive: Golden State Killer’s ex-wife speaks out, says his crimes devastated her family
As Joseph James DeAngelo’s victims appear in court to describe the anguish his crimes have caused, a new victim of the Golden State Killer/East Area Rapist came forward for the first time Thursday.
DeAngelo’s ex-wife, Sacramento attorney Sharon Huddle, broke her long silence, submitting a victim impact statement to Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman indicating her husband had lied to her about where he was going while she was working night shifts, and describing the devastation she feels now that she knows his true nature.
Huddle, who has not spoken publicly since DeAngelo’s April 2018 arrest, never mentions her ex-husband by name in the statement, and emphasizes that she does not want her words to detract from the victim impact statements of sexual assault victims and relatives of the 13 people he admitted to murdering between 1975 and 1986.
The couple, married in 1973, had three daughters and a granddaughter and had been separated for years when DeAngelo was arrested. Their divorce became final last year.
Huddle’s only previous statement was issued in June 2018 by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office in which she offered her thoughts to her husband’s victims and asked for privacy.
“My thoughts and prayers are for the victims and their families,” she said at the time. “The press has relentlessly pursued interviews of me. I will not be giving any interviews for the foreseeable future. I ask the press to please respect my privacy and that of my children.”
Her latest statement, obtained by The Sacramento Bee, goes beyond that, expressing how his crimes have affected her and her family, something DeAngelo’s victims have noted themselves this week as they delivered their own victim impact statements.
Although submitted to the court, the letter is not expected to be read aloud.
Sharon Huddle’s statement in full
“The defendant’s criminal actions have had a devastating and pervasive affect on my life and my family. I will never be the same person. I now live everyday with the knowledge of how he attacked and severely damaged hundreds of innocent people’s lives and murdered 13 innocent people who were loved and have now been missed for 40 years or more.
“I live everyday with post traumatic distress where any unexpected noise, or movement of any person or object, can be perceived by my mind as a threat to me. Simple everyday experiences such as a car moving from one lane into another lane behind your car can bring fear to me.
“Once while shopping at Trader Joe’s grocery store, a hand touched my forearm while I was looking into a freezer. My heart began to race and my body jolted. I was terrified that I was about to be harmed, when in reality someone I knew just wanted to say hello to me.
“I have lost my ability to trust people. I trusted the defendant when he told me he had to work, or was going pheasant hunting, or going to visit his parents hundreds of miles away. I worked graveyard shifts at Jack in the Box fast food restaurant and at Placer County Juvenile Hall.
“At times I studied late into the night at my law school. When I was not around, I trusted he was doing what he told me he was doing. Now, without the ability to trust, my relationships with other people are severely impacted.
“I wish that nothing I say here will detract from any other person’s impact statement.”
