'Monsters are real': Woman who was raped by the Golden State Killer, 74, when she was just 15 calls him a 'repulsive, pathetic coward' and another victim calls him 'subhuman' during sentencing hearing for 13 murders and kidnappings
A woman who was raped by the Golden State Killer when she was just 15-years-old called him a 'repulsive, pathetic coward' during his sentencing hearing Tuesday.
Kris Pedretti was attacked by Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., now 74, just before Christmas 1976. She told a court Tuesday he is a 'soulless being'. Another victim said: 'Monsters were real. He was the bogeyman.'
DeAngelo Jr. in June pleaded guilty to all 13 counts of murder, 13 counts of kidnapping, and confessed to 161 uncharged crimes - many of which were rapes - which go back beyond the statute of limitations. All told, he admitted harming 87 victims at 53 separate crime scenes spanning 11 California counties in a plea deal that spares him the death penalty, prosecutors said.
He was wheeled into court to face 16 of his victims Tuesday, the first of four days of hearings before he is sentenced to life in prison. Victim after victim lined up to describe him as a 'sick monster,' 'horrible man' and 'subhuman' who stole their innocence and changed their lives.
The daughter of one victim, Patricia Murphy, told the court: 'He is an evil monster with no soul. He is subhuman.' Patti Cosper also gave him an obscene hand gesture and cursed him.
His sentencing, expected Friday after three days of testimony from his victims and survivors, brings to an end a sinister, decades-long saga of kidnappings, rapes and murders.
He appeared frail, in an orange prison jumpsuit and a mask Tuesday, staring straight ahead. He was also known as the East Area Rapist and Visalia Ransacker and his sentencing ends a more than 45-year hunt for the notorious killer.
Kris Pedretti was attacked by Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., now 74, just before Christmas 1976. She told a court he is a 'souless being'. The Golden State Killer faced his victims in court Tuesday, the first of four days of hearings before he is sentenced to life in prison
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., 74, in June pleaded guilty to all 13 counts of murder, 13 counts of kidnapping, and confessed to 161 uncharged crimes - many of which were rapes - which go back beyond the statute of limitations
Sixteen of his Sacramento County rape victims plan to confront him Tuesday in a courthouse that is otherwise still sealed from the public because of the coronavirus.
A similar number will tell Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman on Wednesday and Thursday how DeAngelo's crimes changed their lives, before he is formally sentenced Friday.
Some read statements on behalf of their loved ones who could not testify in person, while others proudly gave their names now that DeAngelo is heading to prison.
'He and his knife had complete control over me for the next two hours,' the daughter of rape survivor Patricia Murphy read from her mother's statement. 'He truly is an evil monster with no soul.'
DeAngelo as a police officer for Exeter Police Department, in the early 70s
Murphy in her own statement raised her middle finger and said DeAngelo 'can go straight to hell.'
'This has been on my mind for 44 years. That's a long time,' Jane Carson-Sandler said before giving her testimony.
Certain triggers can still bring flashbacks to that night in 1976 when DeAngelo confronted her with a butcher knife as she snuggled in bed with her three-year-old son after her husband left for work at a nearby military base.
'I hope that he'll be listening, but we know that during the hearing when he pleaded guilty, he never lifted his head,' she said.
She is among survivors and prosecutors who contend that DeAngelo is merely masquerading as a feeble old man in a wheelchair.
Prosecutors cited 'his slow gait, the distorted twist of his hands' and his halting answers to Bowman in June. But, they said, his 'agile movement and behavior in his jail cell indicate an individual who is healthy and physically active.'
Pete Schultz told how he 'performed horrific acts against our mother while she was tied and blindfolded.' He himself was tied to bedpost at age 11, while his seven-year-old sister was locked in her room during the attack on Wini Schultz.
'The Boogeyman is gone', he said.
Schultz called DeAngelo a 'sick monster,' and noted that the only characteristic his mother could recall was that 'she was certain he had a very inadequate penis.'
That was a recurring theme for witnesses, who tried to break through to DeAngelo.
The charges linked to rapes were filed as kidnappings to commit robberies because the statute of limitations for sexual assaults had expired.
He also publicly admitted to numerous other rapes in Alameda, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Tulare and Yolo counties.
DeAngelo Jr was only identified and arrested in 2018 by using a new form of DNA tracing.
The daughter of one victim, Patricia Murphy, told the court: 'He is an evil monster with no soul. He is subhuman'
'He didn't win, I'm not a lost girl,' Kris Pedretti said in an interview before her testimony. 'I want to make that clear'
Victims and their family members of Golden State Killer/East Area Rapist Joseph James DeAngelo enter the Gordon D. Schaber Sacramento County Courthouse on Tuesday
DeAngelo pleaded guilty in June to 13 murders and a host of rapes and other crimes, and is to be sentenced following three days of victim impact statements from family members and rape victims
Sixteen of his Sacramento County rape victims plan to confront him Tuesday in a courthouse that is otherwise still sealed from the public because of the coronavirus
Sacramento County Deputy District Attorney Thienvu Ho told a judge Monday: 'The blank stare, the halting answers that sometimes burst forth in gasps of breath, might lead some to suspect or later contend that he is physically or mentally deficient.
'He has portrayed himself as being feeble and frail, as someone who is physically unable to express remorse. … The fact of the matter is, he consciously chose not to do so.'
'Monsters are real': Woman who was raped by the Golden State Killer, 74, when she was just 15 calls him a 'repulsive, pathetic coward' and another victim calls him 'subhuman' during sentencing hearing for 13 murders and kidnappings
!['Monsters are real': Woman who was raped by the Golden State Killer, 74, when she was just 15 calls him a 'repulsive, pathetic coward' and another victim calls him 'subhuman' during sentencing hearing for 13 murders and kidnappings]()
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August 19, 2020
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