'Golden State Killer' Joseph DeAngelo's trial could last 10 years and cost taxpayers $20m
A judge in Sacramento ruled that the 73-year-old Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo, cannot afford a private defense attorney and will have to continue being represented by a public defender for his trial. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Sweet, at a hearing last Thursday, said that after reviewing DeAngelo's financial records, it has been concluded that that the convict is indigent.
Sweet, during the hearing, said: "It will take an extraordinary amount of resources to litigate the charges in this case. He’s not going to have sufficient means or ability.” DeAngelo, a former police officer, is reportedly facing 13 murder charges and 13 rape-related charges for crimes committed in the 1970s and 1980s across six different counties in Californa.