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Golden State Killer Joseph DeAngelo climbed on furniture, exercised before appearing in court as 'feeble man'

Videos of the 74-year-old convict moving about and exercising in his prison cell were in contrast to the image he has projected of himself in court and media
UPDATED AUG 25, 2020
(Getty Images/Sacramento County District Attorney's Office)
(Getty Images/Sacramento County District Attorney's Office)

The Golden State Killer, 74-year-old Joseph DeAngelo, who appeared in a wheelchair during his recent trial was seen climbing on furniture and walking around freely in his prison cell just months before being sentenced, surveillance footage has shown. The clip of his prison cell in California was released by prosecutors soon after his sentencing last week on Friday, August 21, in an effort to prove that the infamous serial killer was not the "feeble and wheelchair-bound confused man" he has portrayed himself as during his trial.

DeAngelo, a former police officer, decades after being accused of at least a dozen murders, more than 50 rapes and over 100 burglaries and kidnappings in California, admitted to the crimes in June. He is now serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole after he pleaded guilty to at least 13 killings and dozens of rape in the 1970s and 80s in the state. His crimes also include hundreds of home invasions. The 74-year-old was arrested in April 2018 on the basis of groundbreaking genetic genealogy evidence, DNA testing.  

Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, while providing the videos on the case, said that the clips offer a glimpse into how DeAngelo is the "definition of a sociopath." In one of the clips from June, the former policeman can be seen climbing on a table in his cell to strategically cover lights with some type of material. The DA said that the behavior was similar to when DeAngelo would cover televisions or lamps with blankets at some crime scenes over four decades ago. Another clip, from July 18, showed the former police officer turned killer wiping down the edges of his cell, while other videos showed him climbing on his bed to rearrange items and exercising. 



 


The videos of him moving about and exercising were in contrast to the image he has projected of himself in court and media. Throughout his trial, DeAngelo was wheeled into court every day in a wheelchair where he appeared to be staring into space. "When you look back in time four decades, and you now stand in the presence of 2020, you can see that Joseph DeAngelo is no different today than when he was 45 years ago," Schubert said.  

The DA also added that the clips "simply demonstrate... his mental acuity, his dexterity, his ability to deceive or attempt to deceive the entire world into believing he is a feeble old man. These are just snippets into the window of the mind of a sociopath. He is, quite simply, the definition of one. He has, and always will be a sociopath in action." 

DeAngelo, before his sentencing last week, had risen from his wheelchair and apologized to his surviving victims and relatives of the people he killed. "I've listened to all your statements. Each one of them. And I'm really sorry to everyone I've hurt," the serial killer said.

DeAngelo was first taken into custody on April 24, 2018, by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department. He was arrested on two murder charges in the 1978 deaths of Brian Maggiore and his wife Katie, who are believed to be the Golden State Killer's first murder victims.  His DNA swab later connected him to several other killings and rape cases. 
 
 Reports state that because of the statute of limitations for sex assault, the rape-related charges against him have been filed as kidnappings to commit robberies with the use of a gun and a knife. Investigators in the case believe that DeAngelo has committed at least 50 rapes, and was known for many years as the "East Area Rapist". A new DNA evidence, in 2001, reportedly linked him to 12 murders committed in Southern California between 1979 and 1986. 
 
 
 

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