The man accused of being the Golden State Killer agreed to plead guilty Monday to 13 counts of first-degree murder in Sacramento in a deal that will spare him the death penalty.
In front of victims and their families, Sacramento County deputy district attorney Amy Holliday announced that Joseph DeAngelo, 74, a former police officer, had agreed to plead guilty to committing the crimes across California in the 1970s and 80s.
The hearing was held in a ballroom at California State University, Sacramento, that can hold up to 2,018 people when set up for receptions. The hearing was live streamed from the Sacramento State University Ball Room. Court officials and prosecutors sought a space to accommodate in-person attendance while maintaining social distance during the coronavirus pandemic.
DeAngelo was dressed in an orange jumpsuit and wore a face shield.
Holliday said DeAngelo also admitted guilt in a number of crimes for which he was not charged, some of which are past the statute of limitations.
As part of the plea agreement, he will be required to register as a sex offender and pay restitution to the victims or their families in an amount to be determined, as well as any fees or fines.
DeAngelo had eluded authorities for four decades before he was arrested in April 2018 in a Sacramento suburb. It is believed to be the first high-profile case to be cracked with genetic genealogy. Authorities said they used “discarded DNA” to confirm that DeAngelo was their man.
A documentary about the case, “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,” aired on HBO on Sunday night.
He will be sentenced at a later date to life without the possibility of parole. He is expected to be confronted by surviving victims and the relatives of those killed before his sentencing, prosecutors have said.
In a joint statement issued two weeks ago, the six district attorneys who are involved in the case said, “It was not until the advent of Investigative Genetic Genealogy that we were able to successfully identify DeAngelo as the suspect in a series of rapes, burglaries and murders that spanned 11 counties over more than a decade.”
The district attorneys hinted at the possibility of a plea deal in their June 15 statement.
“We have a moral and ethical responsibility to consider any offer from the defense, given the massive scope of the case, the advanced age of many of the victims and witnesses, and our inherent obligations to the victims,” the statement said.
