Joleen Cope
Staff Reporter
The man known as the East Area Rapist, the Original Night Stalker, but best known as the Golden State Killer has finally sentenced to living the rest of his life behind bars.
To give some background if you did not know already, the Golden State Killer was the man behind a crime spree in California in the 1970s and the 1980s. From 1973 to 1976, he was actually a police officer. During his service, he shot and killed Claud Snelling in front of his own daughter. Eventually he got fired from his job for stealing a hammer and some dog repellant. After getting fired the Golden State Killer committed many more crimes but never got caught. He would break into the homes of his victims and steal items like jewelry, identification, and cash. These thefts carried on for a while in Northern California until they escalated into rapes and murders along the California Coast. His last known crime was in 1986, but after that, the murders randomly came to a halt.
For decades, the case had not been solved, until a new name came up for the first time, Joseph James DeAngelo. Investigators ran his DNA through genealogical databases and was arrested soon after in 2018. On June 29,2020 Joseph James DeAngelo, a 74-year-old man, pleaded guilty to 13 murders and 13 rape-related charges from crimes that occurred in the 1970’s and 1980’s. He even admitted to committing to dozens more sexual assaults that he could not be charged for because the statute of limitations did not allow charges to be brought up.
Victims of the Golden State Killer and his relatives read statements made by the people whose lives he has ruined. This happened for three days prior to the sentencing to try to make DeAngelo feel the grief he has caused so many people. Before the judge stated the heartless man’s sentence DeAngelo gave a very quick apology. When the Golden State Killer took the plea deal, he avoided the death penalty. This would later prove unhelpful as the Judge sentenced him to the highest remaining sentence. This sentencing included 15 life terms with the possibility of parole, 11 consecutive life terms without parole, and 8 years.
The hunt for the Golden State Killer was a tiring one and took decades. Michelle McNamara was a part of this hunt and is the author of “I’ll be Gone in the Dark”, a book about the Golden State Killer. She devoted the final years of her life to finding the man behind these crimes. Her book also started the crime documentary with the same name as her book and if you are interested in this case you should give it a watch.
This case was truly a tough one but thankfully after many decades, the Golden State Killer has been sentenced to be behind bars for good.
Image Credit: Emiliano Bar on Unsplash
Comments