A judge charged the accused Golden State Killer, also known as the East Area Rapist, Friday at a Sacramento County Superior Court hearing with two separate counts of murder with special circumstances and two firearm felonies.
Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, is charged with murdering Katie and Brian Maggiore on Feb. 2, 1978. The special circumstances are because the suspect allegedly committed multiple murders.
DeAngelo was arrested at his Citrus Heights home after DNA linked him to crimes attributed to the Golden State Killer, also known as the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker. He is suspected of at least 12 slayings and 50 rapes in 10 counties from Northern to Southern California.
The hearing will continue on May 14 at 8:30 a.m.
The lawyer for the former police officer said he should be considered innocent until proven guilty.
Public defender Diane Howard told reporters outside a courtroom Friday that it feels like 72-year-old suspect Joseph James DeAngelo has already been tried in the press.
DeAngelo has been charged with eight counts of murder. He did not enter a plea Friday at his arraignment.
Prosecutors say DNA evidence identified him as the Golden State Killer, responsible for the deaths of 13 people and the rapes of dozens of women in the 1970s and ’80s.
ABC10’s Keristen Holmes was in the courtroom and reports DeAngelo feebly responded to the question about his name and that he had an attorney. That caused a commotion of emotion from a couple of people.
DeAngelo is being represented by public defender Diane Howard.
