Golden State Killer survivors turn ‘pain into power’ with nonprofit empowering crime victims

Sea foam kisses a starfish on golden sand in a framed photograph. A basket filled with soft blankets sits near a blue couch with fluffy pillows. Ambient lighting illuminates a canvas that reads “You are beloved.”

Nonprofit Phyllis’s Garden brought the concept — serene spaces called soft interview rooms — to four Sacramento-area law enforcement stations over the past year and is planning to expand to other agencies outside of the region. Founded by the survivors of the Golden State Killer, the nonprofit is named after the late Phyllis Henneman who was raped by Joseph DeAngelo, also known as the East Area Rapist.

The nonprofit aims to empower survivors of sexual assault through advocating for victims and educating others. The goal is to arm survivors with strength and support to regain their voices as they heal. It coordinates funding for the soft interview rooms as well as hosts support groups for rape and sexual assault victims.

“For me, this is a (way to) pay it forward,” said nonprofit co-founder Kris Pedretti.

DeAngelo admitted to committing more than 50 rapes and killing 13 people through a 12-year terror spree across six counties in California.

Pedretti recalled how DeAngelo raped her at 15 years old. Law enforcement put her through the same process as that of a suspect — fingerprinting and taking pictures, Pedretti has said.

She was then interviewed in the same room in which she was raped.

Most law enforcement stations have one sterile, intimidating room used to question both suspects and sexual assault survivors. But eliciting details from a traumatized victim in a soft interview room helps them recall harsh details in a safe and comfortable place where they feel they can be believed, according to Phyllis’s Garden.

Phyllis’s Garden unveiled soft interview rooms in police stations in Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova and Folsom, as well as the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office station in south Sacramento this past year.

The correct environment can help a shocked victim recall details of their assault to help peace officers solve their case, Pedretti said. She recalled a victim, who hadn’t a wink of sleep after their trauma, napped on the blue couch and awoke to relay the incident back to the Elk Grove Police Department.

“That is life-changing,” Pedretti said.

‘Pain into power’

The idea behind creating a nonprofit came after Henneman died. She, Pedretti and another co-founder Gaye Hardwick had become fast friends, meeting after DeAngelo’s arrest.

They helped ease Henneman in the last weeks of her life. Pedretti and another friend fulfilled Henneman’s last wish to have a Christmas party and threw one replete with festive cheer on Nov. 6, 2020.

Henneman died Nov. 15, 2020, after a liver cancer diagnosis. She was 68.

“She would be honored,” Henneman’s sister, Karen Villeaux, said of creating a nonprofit in her name.

Villeaux recalled how her unassuming sister, with a hard-as-nails exterior but a soft inside, didn’t talk much about her attack.

Henneman noted society in the 1970s treated rape victims as suspects, according to her victim impact statement.

“My sense of importance in this world diminished with this treatment,” the statement read.

The introduction of a soft interview room changes how a victim is viewed. In court, a jury could see a clear difference in rooms where a suspect was interrogated and where an abuse survivor was interviewed.

The idea for a soft interview room for Phyllis’s Garden came from an investigator with the Elk Grove Police Department, invited to speak with a group of survivors who meet to share their experiences at Pedretti’s house.

The group, also under the umbrella of the nonprofit, has a Facebook group called It’s Time To Tell Your Story! People from across the globe discuss their experiences online, and select members also meet in person.

It was at one of these in-person meetings that Nicole Monroe, the investigator, mentioned her department has a soft interview room. She invited Pedretti and others to visit the station and one of the nonprofit’s purposes was born.

“After that visit, it just made sense to us,” Hardwick said in January during an unveiling of a soft interview room.

Hardwick said all police and sheriff stations should be equipped with a soft interview room to help victims wounded with largely invisible injuries.

“It’s a trauma that lasts a lifetime,” Hardwick added.

Sacramento District Attorney Thien Ho, who prosecuted DeAngelo as a deputy district attorney alongside now-Superior Court Judge Amy Holliday, commended Pedretti and Hardwick for their resiliency and for empowering victims to speak.

“They turned pain into power, tragedy into triumph,” Ho said during an unveiling of a soft room at the south Sacramento station.

The work is not done — more soft interview rooms are scheduled to be finished for police departments in Lodi and Fresno, Pedretti said.

Interested law enforcement agencies must reserve the rooms solely for interviewing victims — not to detain suspects or for officers’ use — and hold an unveiling for the community to see, Pedretti said.

If rape and sexual assault survivors start to see the compassionate treatment, then perhaps people will be more likely to report their attackers. It starts with law enforcement agencies committing one room to be transformed and telling residents about this resource during the unveiling.

“Maybe if they start seeing that they’re believed, No. 1, respected and will be treated with compassion,” Pedretti said, “maybe more people will report. That’s the end goal right there.”

More information about the nonprofit can be found at phyllissgarden.com. To reach Pedretti, call 916-512-0678 or email phyllissgarden1@gmail.com