Editor’s Note: This story contains discussions of rape or sexual assault that may be disturbing. Reader discretion is advised. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can find help and discreet resources on the National Sexual Assault Hotline website or by calling 1-800-656-4673.
(NewsNation) — This week marks the seventh anniversary of authorities arresting the Golden State Killer, and one of his victims says she’s been able to move forward knowing he’s behind bars for the rest of his life.
Joseph James DeAngelo’s murder and attack spree in California spanned the 1970s and ‘80s, but he managed to escape justice until 2018, when the new investigative field of forensic genetic genealogy led police to his door.
In 2020, he pleaded guilty to 13 murders and was sentenced to life without parole. He offered a brief apology in court, but it didn’t ring true to Jane Carson-Sandler, his fifth known victim, and others.
“If we had tomatoes, we would have thrown them at him,” she told “Banfield” on Thursday as the true-crime program revisited the case.
DeAngelo broke into her home in October 1976 and bound and gagged her and her 3-year-old son. She endured hours of sexual assault before the intruder left, but not before DeAngelo warned her against contacting police.
His words resonated with her over the years, she said. After his arrest and conviction, Carson-Sandler said she was able to get some measure of relief.
“I’m not looking over my shoulder all the time, you know, just wondering, ‘Is he still alive? Is he going to come back?’” she said. “I’m so much more at ease now that he’s in prison, where he belongs.”
DeAngelo, a onetime police officer, is 79.