Golden State Killer: Prime suspect Joseph James DeAngelo to plead guilty to multiple murders and rapes, reports say
Lawyers in the case of the Golden State Killer, otherwise known as the East Area Rapist, believe they have reached a deal where the chief suspect will plead guilty to 88 charges of murder, rape and other crimes.
The Sacramento Bee reports sources saying that Joseph James DeAngelo Jr will enter the plea to avoid a death penalty trial, with a life sentence imposed instead.
Mr DeAngelo’s attorney, Sacramento County Supervising Assistant Public Defender Joseph Cress says that the plea agreement would provide some finality for the victims, while avoiding a lengthy and expensive trial.
Details of the agreement are still being worked out, but a hearing could take place on 29 June.
The former police officer was arrested in April 2018 after a decades-long search for a suspect in the crimes that occurred across California between 1974 and 1986.
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