Golden State Killer sorry, 'I'm truly sorry for everyone I hurt'

 Golden State Killer sorry,  'I'm truly sorry for everyone I hurt'.

Just before receiving multiple consecutive life sentences, Joseph James DeAngelo, the former California police officer who lived a double life as the murderous sociopath dubbed the Golden State Killer, broke his silence to tell a hushed courtroom filled with victims and their family members that he was “truly sorry” for the crimes.

It was such an unexpected moment that it brought gasps from those in the gallery, many of whom sat through an extraordinary four-day sentencing hearing filled with graphic and heart-wrenching testimony from dozens of victims. It also reinforced that nobody ever seemed to know what DeAngelo would do and who he was, which helps explain how he eluded detection for four decades while committing at least 13 killings and dozens of rapes.

The 74-year-old DeAngelo spoke for only a few seconds after rising from a wheelchair that newly released jail video shows he doesn’t need.

"I listened to all your statements, each one of them, and I’m truly sorry for everyone I’ve hurt,” he said, putting aside the weak, quavering voice he used to plead guilty and also admit to multiple other sexual assaults for which the statute of limitations had expired.

Prosecutors and victims said it was more evidence of a manipulative and vicious criminal who fooled investigators and his own family until he finally admitted victimizing at least 87 people at 53 separate crime scenes spanning 11 California counties. He was finally unmasked in 2018 with a pioneering use of DNA tracing.

“I think that he is truly diabolical and he is constantly masked, whether it’s a physical mask, a disguise in the voice, the role of a decent guy in the community and having people around him who love him,” said Debbi Domingo McMullan‏, the daughter of murder victim Cheri Domingo.

“One hundred percent ‘Jekyll & Hyde,’” added Jane Carson-Sandler, one of DeAngelo’s first rape victims. “It’s like he was living two completely different lives. ... He probably, somehow in his mind, didn’t feel that he was committing these crimes — it was someone else, almost compartmentalized.”

DeAngelo’s family members broke their silence in the case, writing in letters read to the judge that the “monster,” “devil,” “beast” and “madman” described by prosecutors is the polar opposite of the man that one niece saw as a loving father figure and another as her “hero” who took her camping and fishing.

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman was unmoved. He said DeAngelo should die in prison with “no mercy” from his jailers after pleading guilty in June to 13 murders and 13 rape-related charges that spanned much of California between 1975 and 1986. The plea deal spared him the death penalty.

“When a person commits monstrous acts, they need to be locked away so they can never harm an innocent person,” the judge said to applause from DeAngelo’s victims.

Investigators in the case pioneered a new method of DNA tracing that involves building a family tree from publicly accessible genealogy websites to narrow the list of suspects.

They linked nearly 40-year-old DNA from crime scenes to a distant relative of DeAngelo and eventually to a discarded tissue they surreptitiously lifted from DeAngelo’s garbage can in suburban Sacramento.

The same technique has since been used to solve 93 murders and rapes across the nation, said Ron Harrington, whose family has been obsessed with solving the 1980 slayings of youngest brother Keith Harrington and his new wife, Patrice Harrington.

It led oldest brother Bruce Harrington to champion a ballot measure passed by California voters in 2004 that expanded the collection of DNA samples from prisoners and those arrested for felonies and has since led to more than 81,000 identifications.

Bowman told DeAngelo he was moved by the courage and strength of the victims and their family members — “all qualities you clearly lack” — who told how they endured sadistic, hours-long assaults.

DeAngelo's rapes and eventual murders followed the same pattern of binding couples he surprised while they slept and assaulting the woman as the man lay helpless. He would place dishes on the man's back, warning that he would kill them both if the dishes rattled.

DeAngelo's relatives said that conflicted with their image of the man they loved.

“I personally feel that someone else is inside him who I do not know,” a niece said in a letter read by defense attorneys.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UK debt 2 trillion, UK government spending on virus measures pushes

Image
UK debt 2 trillion, UK government spending on virus measures pushes. UK government debt has risen above £2 trillion for the first time amid heavy spending to support the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. Spending on measures such as the furlough scheme means the debt figure now equals the value of everything the UK produces in a year. Total debt hit £2.004tn in July, £227.6bn more than last year,  said the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Economists warned the situation would worsen before improving. Where do governments borrow money? It is the first time debt has been above 100% of gross domestic product (GDP) since the 1960-61 financial year, the ONS said. The July borrowing figure - the difference between spending and tax income - was £26.7bn, down from a revised £29.5bn in June. It was the fourth highest borrowing in any month since records began in 1993. The three higher figures were the previous three months. Those are big figures. What do they mean? Ruth Gregory, s...
Read more

Fredie Blom oldest man, who survived 1918 Spanish Flu, dies at 116

 Fredie Blom oldest man, who survived 1918 Spanish Flu, dies at 116. A South African who was thought to be the oldest man in the world has died at the age of 116. Fredie Blom's identity documents showed he was born in Eastern Cape province in May 1904, although that was never verified by Guinness World Records. When he was teenager, his entire family was wiped out by the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. He went on to survive two world wars and apartheid. Mr Blom told the BBC in 2018 that  there was no special secret to his longevity . "There's only one thing - it's the man above [God]. He's got all the power. I have nothing. I can drop over any time but He holds me," he said. Mr Blom spent most of his life as a labourer - first on a farm and then in the construction industry - and only retired when he was in his 80s. Although he gave up drinking many years ago, he was a regular smoker. However, a coronavirus-related lockdown imposed by the South African govern...
Read more

Finger lickin' good coronavirus KFC, that's probably not the best idea right now

  Finger lickin' good coronavirus KFC, that's probably not the best idea right now. Kentucky Fried Chicken  has decided to pause using its "finger lickin' good" slogan because ... well, that's probably not the best idea right now. Several months after health officials recommended everyone stop touching their faces to help stop the spread of  coronavirus , KFC said Monday that the 64-year-old slogan "doesn't feel quite right." "We find ourselves in a unique situation — having an iconic slogan that doesn't quite fit in the current environment," said Catherine Tan-Gillespie, global chief marketing officer at KFC in a statement. The menu isn't changing and the company said the slogan will return when the "time is right." To be clear, Monday's announcement is a marketing campaign. A clever one, perhaps, with good intentions baked into it ... but a marketing campaign nonetheless. KFC blurred out the slogan featured on ol...
Read more