Joseph DeAngelo, also known as the Golden State Killer, has just admitted to 13 murders in a deal with the US prosecutors meant to spare him from the death penalty.
DeAngelo was a California police officer during his crimes in the 1970s and 80s; he was arrested in 2018 after his DNA was found via a genealogy website.
He had also admitted to different rapes, burglaries, and other crimes.
DeAngelo is 74 and is expected to be sentenced to life in prison in August at a second court hearing, where his victims and victim's families will be allowed to read victim impact statements.
According to BuzzFeed
Decades after terrorizing communities across California, the serial killer and rapist known as the "Golden State Killer" pleaded guilty to more than two dozen charges and admitted to committing numerous other crimes Monday.
Joseph James DeAngelo, a 74-year-old former police officer, pleaded guilty to 13 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of kidnapping for robbery. He also admitted guilt "to all other charged crimes and uncharged crimes," including at least 50 rapes and more than 120 burglaries as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.
"This has been a very long journey for justice," Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said during a press conference. "It has been said a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. For so many there is little doubt that this journey felt like a thousand miles."
In her remarks, Schubert, whose office led the prosecution of the case, called DeAngelo "the real life version of Hannibal Lecter," a "sociopath," and "master manipulator."
"We now have moved this monster not simply from just being caught to now standing convicted," Schubert said.