Did you fear the East Area Rapist in the ’70s? Sacramento County’s DA wants your story
The East Area Rapist, also known as the Golden State Killer, terrorized Sacramento County residents in the mid-1970s as he carried out a brutal crime spree that spread to the San Joaquin Valley, Bay Area and Southern California.
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office wants to hear testimonials from those who remained terrified in their homes, worried they or their loved ones might become the next victim. District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert wants to hear specifically from county residents who “lived through the terror.”
Joseph James DeAngelo, now a 74-year-old former police officer and truck mechanic, has confessed to the crimes of the East Area Rapist and the Golden State Killer. DeAngelo pleaded guilty June 29 to 13 counts of murder and 13 counts of kidnapping for robbery related to his rapes. He also has admitted to 62 uncharged counts of rape and other crimes.
DNA evidence led Sacramento sheriff’s deputies to his Citrus Heights home in April 2018, when he was arrested.
In anticipation for an unusual four-day court hearing next week that will end with his sentencing, prosecutors want to know what it was like for those residents who were gripped with fear of the serial killer and rapist.
“Everyone who lived through the terror of his crime spree in California was affected,” prosecutors said in a news release. “Everyone has their own story.”
Prosecutors have a few questions in particular for those Sacramento County residents of the mid-1970s:
- How old were you at the time and in what general area of the county did you live?
- How did his crimes impact you and your family?
- How did you feel the day you heard DeAngelo was arrested?
- How do you feel now that he has been convicted and will spend his rest of his life in prison?
Prosecutors ask those who want to share their story to send an email to ear.gsk@sacda.org. The stories may be shared publicly, but full names and addresses will not be posted. Prosecutors asked to please include your initials.
DeAngelo, who remains in custody at the Sacramento County Main Jail, is scheduled to return to court Tuesday, when victim impact statements will begin in the largest courtroom at the Sacramento Superior Court. Victims and their families are expected to give emotional statements about the 13-year crime spree.
Officials plan to allow the victims and their families into court to speak in separate groups. The statements will begin Tuesday with women DeAngelo said he raped in Sacramento as the East Area Rapist from 1976 through 1978.
Rape victims from San Joaquin and Contra Costa counties get their turn Wednesday. On Thursday, family members are expected to speak of the 13 people he confessed to murdering between 1975 and 1986 from Southern California to Sacramento.
Those victim impact statements from Department 24 of the court will be live streamed via YouTube. A shortened link is bit.ly/sac-courts-dept-24.
On Friday, the hearing is expected to move to a ballroom at California State University, Sacramento. There, DeAngelo is scheduled to be formally sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His sentence was part of a plea deal with prosecutors.
This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 8:10 PM with the headline "Did you fear the East Area Rapist in the ’70s? Sacramento County’s DA wants your story."
