#8.5

 

EARONS Update

Time for an update on one of the craziest cases in modern history! In post #8, I covered EARONS (East Area Rapist/Original Night Stalker) also known as the Golden State Killer. At the time of the post, Joseph DeAngelo had been arrested and charged, but not yet convicted. 

Joseph James DeAngelo, aged 75, was arrested on April 24, 2018--more than 30 years after his last known crime occurred. This guy...is THE worst. He went on living his life and being free without any consequences for OVER 30 YEARS. Investigators caught DeAngelo by using DNA submitted to a genealogy site by one of DeAngelo's relatives. Once they narrowed him out of a list of potential suspects from the list of relatives, they surreptitiously collected his DNA from a piece of trash and the handle of his car. And voila--his DNA was a match to that collected from his victims and crime scenes. Truly a chef's kiss type of moment.

The statute of limitations had expired (which is seriously one of my soapbox issues but I'll save that for another time) for him to be charged in the rapes and burglaries that he had committed. However, he was still ultimately charged with 13 counts of murder and 13 counts of kidnapping. This took place in Sacramento, California on August 23, 2018.

On April 10, 2019, prosecutors announced that they would be seeking the death penalty for DeAngelo. Like the piece of trash that he is, DeAngelo sought a plea agreement where he would plead guilty to all charges if the death penalty was taken off the table. The prosecutors politely declined his offer. 

After examination of the evidence, prosecutors realized that it would take about 10 years and roughly $20 million dollars to fully prosecute this slug--way more time and money than prosecutors had. So, they accepted a second plea deal from DeAngelo. In this plea deal, he pleaded guilty to 13 counts of first degree murder with special circumstances (including rape and burglary) and 13 counts of kidnapping with no death penalty. He was sentenced on August 21, 2020 to 11 consecutive life sentences as well as an additional life sentence plus 8 years...so he's never ever getting out. He's currently being held in protective custody in the California state correctional system.

But get this! This "feeble" old man that tried to make people feel sorry for him isn't as helpless as he would try to make you believe.

Courtesy of KCRA

He's literally climbing all over stuff in his jail cell, pretending like he's Spiderman or something. I mean c'mon dude. It also made me think (and shudder) that this man used these skills to rape and murder innocent victims. Observers during his trial noted that he could be eerily motionless and have a total poker face, even when confronted by his victims and their families. He showed no remorse for his actions and his statement to the Court was a bunch of insincere bull. In my opinion, he absolutely deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his miserable life. I also believe that there are other victims and stories that we still aren't aware of. I don't think that this story is over yet.

In total, Joseph James DeAngelo is known to have murdered 13 people. He raped 50 people. He robbed homes 120 times.

The focus of this post is not to give attention to this piece of garbage. It's to honor the victims and their families that are still traumatized to this day--they finally received justice.

Podcast Recommendations

At the end of every post, I'm going to link excellent podcasts that cover the topic! I'm obsessed with podcasts and I recommend that you take a listen if you want a deeper dive into these cases.

The Murder Squad

The Murder Squad - Conclusion #1

The Murder Squad - Conclusion #2

Morbid

My Favorite Murder (also has some fascinating info on JonBenet Ramsey!)

My Favorite Murder Conclusion