SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ Prosecutors have selected a large ballroom at California State University, Sacramento as the site for Monday's expected guilty plea by Golden State Killer suspect Joseph James DeAngelo, an unusual move made necessary by the fact that more than 150 victims, their relatives and media members are expected.
The hearing, which is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. and be subject to extraordinary security measures, will be held in the University Union's ballroom, a 150-by-97-foot room on the Sacramento State campus that can hold as many as 2,000 people when set up for receptions.
Because of coronavirus concerns and the need for physical distance between people attending the hearing, court officials and prosecutors had been searching for a space large enough to allow such a large group to sit safely for hours.
Previous hearings over the past two years have been held in cramped courtrooms on the first floor of the Main Jail building downtown, and none of Sacramento Superior Court's courtrooms were deemed large enough to accommodate Monday's session.
The hearing at Sacramento State is expected to be one of the last steps in a decades-old murder, rape and burglary spree that began in the early 1970s and remained a mystery until his arrest outside his Citrus Heights home in April 2018.
DeAngelo, who has been held in isolation in the Sacramento County Main Jail since his arrest, is expected to plead guilty to 13 murder and 13 kidnap for robbery counts, as well as admit responsibility for 62 other rapes and crimes that prosecutors say were committed in 11 California counties from 1974 through 1986.
Victims and family members from around the state are expected to attend, but are not scheduled to speak during the hearing.
Instead, they will be given the opportunity to deliver victim impact statements when DeAngelo is sentenced in August to life without parole, part of a plea deal that prosecutors in six counties agreed to after originally saying they would pursue a death penalty case against him.
Facing the prospect of years of court fights and millions of dollars in expenses with little likelihood that the 74-year-old defendant would ever actually face execution in California, prosecutors agreed to a deal that ensures DeAngelo will spend the rest of his life in prison and that will allow victims and witnesses _ many of them in their 80s and 90s _ the chance to see him admit guilt.
Before his arrest, DeAngelo lived a robust life, working as a truck mechanic and speeding down streets and through stop signs on a motorcycle. But authorities, led by Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert's office, pinpointed him as a suspect after analyzing DNA from the crime scenes in a previously untried fashion. Following his arrest, he assumed the persona of a frail, old man who literally withered away during his 26 months in jail.
Sometimes he would show up in court in a wheelchair; at other hearings, he would stand silently, his mouth agape, appearing as if he were in a daze.
Law enforcement officials believe it was all an act, that at the start DeAngelo furiously paced his cell on the eighth floor of the jail with no visitors except for his public defenders and deputies armed with subpoenas seeking DNA evidence and photos, including of his penis.
The case has spawned worldwide interest, a best-selling book, HBO documentary series and countless websites exploring the origins of the former Auburn police officer who would go on to be known by a series of nicknames, including the East Area Rapist, Visalia Ransacker, Diamond Knot Killer and Original Night Stalker.
DeAngelo is believed to have begun his crime spree while working as a police officer in Exeter near Visalia, where he has been named as the suspect who broke into numerous homes and killed journalism professor Claude Snelling in September 1975 while attempting to abduct Snelling's daughter.
From there, DeAngelo moved north to Auburn where he served as a police officer until he was fired after being caught shoplifting dog repellent and a hammer from a Citrus Heights drug store.
Authorities say DeAngelo was the East Area Rapist who terrorized Sacramento with dozens of sexual assaults that ultimately led to the Feb. 2, 1978, shooting deaths of Brian and Katie Maggiore, a young couple walking their dog in a Rancho Cordova neighborhood that had been plagued by break-ins, hang-up calls and reports of a prowler.
His attacks are believed to have continued into the Bay Area, Yolo and San Joaquin counties and, eventually to Southern California, where he is accused of 10 other brutal rapes and slayings.
