A retired policeman on Monday was found guilty of the first of dozens of charges in the “Golden State Killer” case, a series of murder, rape and theft incidents that terrorized California in the 1970s and 80s.

Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., 74, appeared before a judge on Monday morning at a temporary court set up at the Sacramento State University ballroom to allow social distance in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic.

As part of a defense agreement between DeAngelo and prosecutors from six counties, he will be freed from death – most likely He received a life sentence without conditional release for 13 murders and 13 kidnappings.

The FBI said that DeAngelo, who was an officer in the two small-town police departments in the 1970s, was behind 45 rapes and more than 120 thefts in the eastern San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento and its surroundings in Southern California.

It was known that the couples crawled into their homes, tied them up, raped the woman, and in some cases killed both.

But for more than forty years, the serial predator has escaped from the authorities without crossing the state.

It was originally known by nicknames like East Area Rapist, Original Night Stalker, and Diamond Knot Killer.

It was later called the Golden State Slayer. the late writer Michelle McNamarabringing a new interest in the case “I Will Go in the Dark” in the best-selling book.

In 2018, he received the assistance of new DNA technology for detectives to secure DeAngelo’s arrest.

DeAngelo, currently detained in Sacramento County Prison, is expected to be convicted in the past days, as dozens of victims are expected to speak in August.

With mast cables