A former police officer who terrorized the Sacramento region as a serial rapist and went on to kill more than a dozen people across California and evade capture for decades has pleaded guilty to the first of 13 murders.
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. said Monday he will plead guilty to the all charges in a plea deal to avoid the death penalty.
The frail-looking 74-year-old spoke in hushed, raspy voice acknowledging the crimes attributed to the Golden State Killer.
He was arrested in 2018 after authorities used DNA to track him through a popular genealogy website.