Prosecutors to make announcement in Joseph DeAngelo case at Sacramento State on Monday
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said it will make an announcement in the case against Joseph DeAngelo, the man suspected of being the notorious Golden State Killer and East Area Rapist, in a Sacramento State ballroom on Monday.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Monday at the university, sources told KCRA 3.
The DA's news conference is scheduled for 3 p.m. Monday at the University Union Ballroom, the officials said. The announcement will be made "immediately after the court hearing for People vs. Joseph James DeAngelo," prosecutors said in a statement.
Last week, prosecutors and DeAngelo’s defense attorneys were nearing a possible plea deal, multiple sources told KCRA 3. Details of the plea deal were not released.
Jennifer Carole, the daughter of Lyman Smith who was killed by the East Area Rapist in 1980, said last week that she and other victims’ family members were included in discussions about a possible guilty plea deal with DeAngelo, his attorneys and the district attorneys of six California counties, where the Golden State Killer committed murder.
Carole said a guilty plea deal was discussed from the beginning. The possible plea deal was expected.
In a statement last week, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said the next court date for DeAngelo is June 29, but officials did not disclose any details about the possible deal.
“Victims and their loved ones have a right to be heard, and all six District Attorney’s Offices involved in the prosecution of People v. DeAngelo are working closely with the victims in this case to ensure their statements are considered by the Court prior to sentencing,” the district attorney’s office said.
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DeAngelo, 75, is accused of killing at least 13 people, raping upward of 50 women and burglarizing dozens of homes in the 1970s and '80s.
The former police officer was arrested in Citrus Heights in 2018, thanks to DNA technology, after decades of eluding authorities. DNA submitted to a public database commonly used for genealogy was used to link DeAngelo to the cold cases.
DeAngelo's preliminary hearing, which had been set for May, was pushed back because of the coronavirus outbreak.
District attorney's offices from six counties, Sacramento, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Orange County, Tulare and Contra Costa, are prosecuting the case.
Prosecutors from all six counties are expected to speak during the news conference on Monday.