Golden State Killer suspect Joseph James DeAngelo Jr, 74, ‘avoids the death penalty under deal requiring him to plead guilty to 88 charges including murder and rape’
- Joseph James DeAngelo, 77, also known as the Golden State Killer, escapes a death sentence under a proposed deal with prosecutors
- Ex-cop DeAngelo under the deal, which has yet to be finalized, has agreed to plead guilty to 88 charges, including murder and rape
- Court officials are also trying to locate a venue big enough under coronavirus safety measures to allow crowds expected when he accepts the deal
- Although there is a moratorium on the death penalty in California, DeAngelo will likely not spend too many years in prison because of his advanced age.
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Joseph James DeAngelo, the alleged ‘Golden State Killer’, escapes a death sentence under a proposed deal with prosecutors that requires him to plead guilty to 88 charges, including murder and rape.
The deal, revealed by sources, has yet to be finalized in the courts.
Court officials also are working on locating a venue big enough under coronavirus safety measures to allow crowds of family members of the victims and media expected when the former cop accepts the deal.
Although there is a moratorium on the death penalty in California, DeAngelo will likely not spend too many years in prison because of his advanced age.
Joseph James DeAngelo, the alleged ‘Golden State Killer’, escapes a death sentence under a proposed deal with prosecutors that requires him to plead guilty to 88 charges, including murder and rape. He is pictured during his arraignment after he was arrested in April 2018
Sacramento County Supervising Assistant Public Defender Joseph Cress tells the Sacramento Bee that the agreement will bring closure to the families.
‘We feel this is a just resolution of this case and that the resolution provides some finality and closure for the victims,’ Cress said Monday.
‘This also avoids the stress and financial costs of a lengthy trial.’
DeAngelo is suspected of at least 13 murders and more than 50 rapes across California in the 1970s and 1980s, and hundreds of home invasions.
The statute of limitations has expired on those crimes, however, making them impossible to charge.
DeAngelo, however, was arrested in April 2018 on the basis of groundbreaking genetic genealogy evidence. He previously had indicated no willingness to accept a plea deal.
DeAngelo was arrested in April 2018 on the basis of groundbreaking genetic genealogy evidence. He previously had indicated no willingness to accept a plea deal. The accused killer is pictured in an undated law enforcement photo
Six counties had consolidated their cases in Sacramento County, and four of those counties were seeking the death penalty before the deal was revealed.
Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Steve White had allowed prosecutors, over defense objections, to take four more cheek-swab DNA samples from DeAngelo as they tried to link him to old crimes.