Skip to content
NOWCAST KCRA 3 News at 4pm
Live Now
Advertisement

Golden State Killer victims confront Joseph DeAngelo

Golden State Killer victims confront Joseph DeAngelo
LETICIA ORDAZ HAS THIS REPORT. DETAILS ARE GRAPHIC. >> PHYLLIS HENNAMAN WAS 22 YEARS OLD AND THE FIRST VICTIM IN SACRAMENTO COUNTY OF THE EAST AREA RAPIST. >> ON JUNE 17, 1976, I WENT TO BED NOT KNOWING THEN IN JUST A FEW HOURS MY LIFE AS I KNEW IT WOULD CHANGE. JOSEPH DEANGELO, HENCEFORTH CALLED THE DEVIL INCORONATE, BROKE INTO MY HOME, BLINDFOLDED ME, TIED ME UP, THREATENED MY LIFE WITH A KNIFE AND RAPED ME. LIFE AS I KNEW IT IRREVOCABLY CHANGED THAT DAY. THAT ONCE HAPPY GIRL BECAME FEARFUL, SUSPICIOUS, HYPERVIGILANT. MY SENSE OF SAFETY WAS SHATTERED. LETICIA: ON JULY 17, 1976, PEGGY WAS JUST 15 YEARS OLD, HOME ALONE WITH HER SISTER. DEANGELO PRIED OPEN A LOCKED DOOR, TIED THEM UP AND RAPED HER. >> MR. DEANGELO BROKE IN AND WOKE UP MY SISTER AND TIED HER UP. HE THEN CAME TO MY ROOM AND WOKE ME UP WITH HIS HAND OVER MY MOUTH. AFTER ROLLING OUT OF BED AND SWINGING AT HIM, I WAS HIT SEVERAL TIMES ON THE HEAD BEFORE BEING TIED UP, GAGGED AND BLINDFOLDED. WE WERE BOTH THREATENED AND I WAS RAPED MULTIPLE TIMES. WE WERE BOTH LEFT WITH NUMBNESS IN OUR HANDS FOR MONTHS BECAUSE OUR WRISTS WERE BOUND SO TIGHT. IT HURT TO BRUSH MY HAIR BECAUSE HE HIT ME SO MANY TIMES ON THE HEAD. THERE WAS SO MUCH TRAUMA I CARRIED WITH ME. MY GOD, WE WERE JUST HIGH SCHOOL KIDS LIVING A NORMAL LIFE GOING TO SCHOOL, CHURCH GROUP, HAVING FRIENDS OVER. THIS HORRIFIC EXPERIENCE WAS PART OF ME. LETICIA: PATRICIA COSPER SPOKE FOR HER MOTHER, PATRICIA MURPHY. MURPHY DESCRIBED WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO GO BACK TO THE HOME WHERE SHE WAS ATTACKED TIME AND TIME AGAIN IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED HER RAPE. >> MY MOM DIDN'T WANT TO MOVE SO I CONTINUED TO VISIT THEM THERE. I CELEBRATED CHRISTMAS AND OTHER HOLIDAYS AT THEIR HOUSE AS IF NOTHING EVER HAPPENED. SOMETIMES THERE WAS NO PLACE TO SIT EXCEPT ON THE ORGAN BENCH HE TIED ME TO BEFORE HE DRANK MY DAD'S BEER AND LEFT. LETICIA: LISA BLUMENTHAL SPOKE TO THE COURT IN A RECORDED STATEMENT AND RECALLED HOW HERE MOTHER WAS RAPED IN 1977. SHE WAS A CHILD WHEN SHE WOKE UP TO HEAR HER MOTHER SCREAMING AND SEE A SHADOWY FIGURE WEARING A SKI MASK NEAR HER PARENTS BEDROOM. >> I REMEMBER WAKING UP CONFUSED, WONDERING WHY SHE DIDN'T HELP ME GET READY FOR SCHOOL. THEN I FELT IT, SOMETHING HEAVY, SOMETHING DARK, SOMETHING VERY WRONG. I TURNED THE CORNER OUT OF MY BEDROOM AND SAW A DARK FIGURE WITH A SKI MASK AT THE END OF THE HALLWAY. I KNEW HE WAS THERE. EVEN AS A CHILD, I COULD SENSE EVIL. LETICIA: MANY MORE SURVIVORS AND FAMILY MEMBERS STOOD BEFORE DEANGELO. SOME SAID THEY HAD FORGIVEN THEM FOR THEIR OWN SAKE, NOT HIS. OTHERS DESCRIED HIM DESCRIBED HIM AS THE DEVIL, ANIMAL, A MONSTER WHO DESERVES THE HIGHEST PUNISHMENT. >> SOME PEOPLE ARE WIRED WRONG AND DEANGELO IS ONE OF THEM. LUCK FINALLY RAN OUT FOR THIS MESSED UP, HUMAN BEING. AT LEAST A POOR EXCUSE FOR ONE. IT IS MY HOPE THAT YOU PUNISH HIM TO THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW FOR THE HORRIFIC CRIMES HE COMMITTED. HE ADMITTED THAT HE CAUSED ALL THE SUFFERING AND MISERY TO SO MANY VICTIMS OVER THE PAST 40-PLUS YEARS. HE TRULY IS AN EVIL MONSTER WITH NO SOUL. >> I HEARD HIM ADMIT TO THE CRIME AND THE RAPE AND NOW FINALLY THE END OF THIS TRAUMA IS HERE. HE'S A HORRIBLE MAN AND NONE OF US HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT HIM ANYMORE. >> WHILE WE ALL HAVE SUFFERED FOR 44 YEARS. YOUR SUFFERING, SIR,
Advertisement
Golden State Killer victims confront Joseph DeAngelo
Joseph DeAngelo, the confessed Golden State Killer and East Area Rapist, faced more rape survivors in court Wednesday on day two of hearings ahead of his sentencing. Victim impact statements on Wednesday spanned Sacramento, Yolo, San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Alameda and Santa Clara counties. Gay Hardwick, formerly of Stockton, was attacked by DeAngelo in March 1978. "The aftermath of this attack has been with me for 42 years," she said. Hear her full testimony in the video below. On Tuesday, more than a dozen Sacramento County victims and their family members confronted DeAngelo, 74, in a courthouse that is otherwise still sealed from the public because of the coronavirus pandemic.Thursday will be focused on DeAngelo's murders and Friday is when his sentencing will take place.In June, DeAngelo pleaded guilty to 13 murders spanning six counties from the 1970s and '80s. In doing so, he admitted to being the Golden State Killer. The former police officer also admitted to dozens of sexual assaults that he could not be criminally charged with because too much time has passed. In exchange, he will avoid the death penalty.DeAngelo was identified and arrested in 2018 thanks to a new form of DNA tracing.-- The Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.*** If you or someone you know needs help, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or you can chat online here. ***

Joseph DeAngelo, the confessed Golden State Killer and East Area Rapist, faced more rape survivors in court Wednesday on day two of hearings ahead of his sentencing.

Victim impact statements on Wednesday spanned Sacramento, Yolo, San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Alameda and Santa Clara counties.

Advertisement

Gay Hardwick, formerly of Stockton, was attacked by DeAngelo in March 1978.

"The aftermath of this attack has been with me for 42 years," she said. Hear her full testimony in the video below.

On Tuesday, more than a dozen Sacramento County victims and their family members confronted DeAngelo, 74, in a courthouse that is otherwise still sealed from the public because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Thursday will be focused on DeAngelo's murders and Friday is when his sentencing will take place.

In June, DeAngelo pleaded guilty to 13 murders spanning six counties from the 1970s and '80s. In doing so, he admitted to being the Golden State Killer. The former police officer also admitted to dozens of sexual assaults that he could not be criminally charged with because too much time has passed. In exchange, he will avoid the death penalty.

DeAngelo was identified and arrested in 2018 thanks to a new form of DNA tracing.

-- The Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.

*** If you or someone you know needs help, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or you can chat online here. ***