Suspect In Golden State Killer Case, Joseph James DeAngelo, Agrees To Plead Guilty Sparing Him Death Penalty

Joseph James DeAngelo, the former police officer accused of numerous rapes and murders as the Golden State Killer, will plead guilty in a deal that will spare him the death penalty. DeAngelo, who is now 74, will admit to 13 murders and a to-be-determined number of rapes on June 29.

DeAngelo’s June 29 courtroom appearance will take place in Sacramento, California. 

Numerous sources that were previously informed about the legal arrangement were required to refrain from disclosing the deal to the media.

Victor Hayes, like many of DeAngelo’s victims, is both relieved and frustrated with the situation. “I’m grateful he’s been caught, but the fact of the matter is he’s already lived a full life,” Hayes said. “I’m very frustrated … Somebody needs to be held accountable,” he continued when talking about how DeAngelo avoided getting caught for so long.

Hayes, who was 21, and his 17-year-old girlfriend at the time were attacked while in bed in a suburb of Sacramento in September 1977. The masked intruder who was later identified as the Golden State Killer, and now DeAngelo, threatened to kill Hayes and raped his girlfriend multiple times in a different room before fleeing the scene. At that time, DeAngelo was working as a full-time police officer for the town of Auburn, California.

DeAngelo was fired from his police officer job in 1979. Just a few months later, the Golden State Killer began terrorizing Southern California.

The Golden State Killer is linked to crimes that extend from 1973 through 1986. Police and detectives largely made no real progress on the case until early 2017 when they traced DNA from recovered rape kits to DeAngelo. 

DeAngelo was arrested on April 24, 2018. He had never been a suspect in the long-running cold case.

An investigation found that DeAngelo had more than 106 victims he either bound, tortured, raped or killed.