Earlier this week, Joseph James DeAngelo Jr, better known as the Golden State Killer, admitted to 13 murders in court, saying an ‘inner voice’ made him do it.

His crime and murder spree had remained one of America’s great unsolved crimes, with DeAngelo Jr having terrorised the Sacramento region as a serial rapist in the mid-1970s, before killing more than a dozen people in areas right across California.

As the crime spree continued, the serial criminal’s nicknames changed from the East Area Rapist to the Visalia Ransacker, and then the Original Night Stalker, before settling on the Golden State Killer

DeAngelo Jr was eventually apprehended in 2018, reports VICE:

DeAngelo [is] a former police officer who terrorized communities up and down California from 1974 to 1986, murdering at least 13 people, mostly women, and raping 50 women and girls as young as 13.

The story of those attacks, the survivors, and the intrepid blogger who worked tirelessly to identify a killer that authorities couldn’t catch make up the six-part HBO docuseries I’ll Be Gone in the Dark…

The series thoroughly captures [Michelle McNamara, the beloved true crime writer’s] years of searching steadfastly and exhaustively for DeAngelo at the expense of her well-being—digging through cases of decades-old files, visiting crime scenes, working closely with detectives, interviewing witnesses and victims, meticulous online sleuthing, and considering new frontiers in DNA research, all while battling a deep anxiety that rendered her reliant on a dangerous mix of medications.

As we watch the trailer, let’s just be thankful this monster is finally being made to pay for his crimes:

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark began streaming on HBO earlier this week.

By admitting his guilt in court on Monday,  DeAngelo will serve 11 consecutive life sentences in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.

If the Golden State Killer story interests you, but podcasts are more your vibe, you’ll want to listen to Man in the Window.

Here’s the podcast’s write-up:

In Man in the Window, Paige St. John, a Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter has uncovered never before revealed details about the man who would eventually become one of California’s most deadly serial killers. From Wondery and the LA Times comes a new series that traces his path of devastation through his victims’ eyes.

You can listen to the full podcast series here, which is both chilling and brilliant.

[source:vice]