Attorneys for the man accused of being the Golden State Killer said Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. would be willing to plead guilty if prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty, according to new court papers.
The statement from the public defenders representing DeAngelo appears as a footnote in a 41-page dismissal motion filed in Sacramento County Circuit Court late Monday night and obtained by the Times on Tuesday.
“Mr. DeAngelo is 74 years old. He has offered to plead to the charges with a lifetime sentence,” the statement says.
Assistant public defender Joe Cress did not respond to a request to clarify the statement. Nor did Sacramento County prosecutor Anne Marie Schubert respond to a request for comment. But victims in the case told The Times they had received a letter from the public defender asking them to tell an independent mediator what they think about resolving the case without trial.
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