California prosecutors will seek the death penalty in Golden State Killer case

Sheyanne N Romero
Visalia Times-Delta
Public defender Diane Howard, right, speaks with Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, who authorities suspect is the so-called Golden State Killer responsible for at least a dozen murders and 50 rapes in the 1970s and 80s, during his arraignment, Friday, April 27, 2018, in Sacramento County Superior Court in Sacramento, Calif.  (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom's recent executive order, prosecutors in four counties said they will seek the death penalty in the case against the Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo. 

On Wednesday, prosecutors from Orange, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Sacramento counties appeared at a court hearing in Sacramento to make the announcement.

Prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty if DeAngelo was convicted of the 12 killings in those counties. 

The 1975 slaying of COS Professor Claude Snelling is not eligible for the death penalty, according to the law at the time.

In March, the governor signed an executive order that establishes a moratorium on killing convicts on Death Row. But he signaled he may take it a step further and commute all death sentences in exchange for life in prison terms. 

District Attorney Tim Ward, Assistant District Attorney David Alavezos, Deputy District Attorney Wendy Sedillo, and Chief Investigator Lindy Gligorijevic were present at the hearing.

Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert speaks at a news conference at the Orange County District Attorney's Office in Santa Ana Tuesday morning for an update in the case against suspected Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo. To her left is Tim Ward, Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley and Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten.

“This is a just decision for the destruction and pain this man caused for families across our state,” Ward said.

DeAngelo, who was arrested in late April after investigators used DNA and a genealogy website to link him to cases that had long gone cold.

He’s connected to more than 175 crimes in all between 1975 and 1986.

The Visalia Ransacker has been credited with roughly 100 burglaries in addition to Snelling's homicide. DeAngelo is also accused of raping 45 women between 1975 to 1986.

DeAngelo's crime spree began in 1975, while employed as a police officer with the Exeter Police Department, according to Sacramento Sheriff's Department.  

Sheyanne Romero covers Tulare County public safety, local government and business for the Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register newspapers. Follow her on Twitter @sheyanne_VTD. Get alerts and keep up on all things Tulare County for as little as $1 a month. Subscribe today.