Yesterday Joseph DeAngelo, disgraced former police officer, admitted his guilt in the Golden State Killer murders and rapes. The first of 13 murders this man committed was in 1975. He admitted to murdering 13 people and raping 62. https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article243868517.html.
His crime spree is known to have spanned from 1974 to 1986 and occurred in numerous cities and towns in California. The case remained unsolved until 2018.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/24/us/golden-state-killer-one-year-later/index.html. In 2016 the FBI asked for the public’s help in solving these crimes and offered a $50,000 reward. Although the killer/rapist had not struck in decades, the Sacramento DA, Anna Marie Shubert, made finding the suspect in this case a priority. Shubert spearheaded a task force that used DNA evidence from old crime scenes, to try to track him down. Ultimately, the case was solved through the use of genetic genealogy and a free database, GEDmatch. https://catherinebroad.blog/2018/04/.
Many survivors, family members of victims and community residents were present at the hours-long hearing yesterday, held in a converted ballroom to accommodate the crowd and social distancing requirements. Being the coward he is, DeAngelo kept his head down. Described by many of his surviving victims as having a small penis, DeAngelo had muttered to himself after being confronted by the evidence against him after police questioning in 2018: “I did all those things. I’ve destroyed all their lives.” (See Sacramento Bee link above.)
A survivor, family member of two victims and residents of Sacramento spoke with reporters. One man who had been a kid and then a young adult during this killer’s reign of terror said: “We couldn’t go anywhere by ourselves anymore,” and the killer completely changed the way people lived their lives.” A survivor stated: “All of Sacramento was a victim of that man.”
Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney Amy Holliday said: “The family members of murder victims have waited decades for justice. The time for justice stands in front of us now.” The sentencing hearing is expected to take two days and will be dominated by testimony from victims. D.A. Shubert observed that victims in this case were able to turn their pain into power.
The Sacramento Bee observed what an “unbelievable achievement of tenacity and fortitude it was to bring the most notorious rapist/killer in U.S. history to justice more than 40 years after he began ruining countless lives, getting away with it for decades.” Describing DA Shubert as born for this case, https://www.sacbee.com/article243873502.html, she did not succumb to hopelessness in the face of this brutal cold case. “Behind the scenes, Schubert connected prosecutors from different regions to work with each other instead of against each other. She created a new sense of momentum and belief that the case could actually be solved.”
D.A. Shubert told reporters: “This has been a very long journey for justice . . . . This journey of passion and persistence finally led to this day, this day of reckoning.”
Shubert’s approach could be described as the antithesis of the approach to the OCCK case in Oakland County, Michigan over the past four-plus decades. In spite of the numerous agencies and municipalities involved in investigating DeAngelo’s crimes over the decades, Sacramento County D.A. Ann Marie Shubert led a task force that brought DeAngelo to justice.
Where is the leadership in Oakland County? Where has it ever been?
And in this season of primaries, leading into the general election, consider how important your vote is for district/prosecuting attorney. The state of Colorado is the only state in the nation to term-limit prosecutors. As this columnist explains, even the definition of “justice” itself is impacted by who is the top law enforcement official in your community. https://www.denverpost.com/2020/06/26/brauchler-district-attorney-primary-vote/?trk_msg=OTADKEPRKBGKVCM45IVIK16NSG&trk_contact=7RSPA4MNTS486HG4AUUCBNBNF4&trk_sid=5P365U71V3AUGV4GHGOI34NPJC&utm_email=E4635491B564242814C575A2C7&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=https://www.denverpost.com/2020/06/26/brauchler-district-attorney-primary-vote/&utm_campaign=denver-mile-high-roundup&utm_content=manual. So give it some thought before you automatically pick an incumbent.
I am really beginning to think attorney Paul Hughes had the right idea in 2013 when he sued the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, Oakland County itself, and the Michigan State Police on behalf of Kristine Michelich’s mother, Debbie Jarvis. https://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/04/24/mother-calls-for-justice-in-oakland-county-child-killer-case/. A federal judge dismissed the $100 million lawsuit which was based on conclusions and allegations made by an anonymous source known only as “Bob.” (WTF, Bob?!) https://www.dailytribune.com/news/child-killer-lawsuit-thrown-out/article_38c6896c-0a84-5e37-88e2-8887d8768b9d.html;
https://www.candgnews.com/news/judge-tosses-100-million-oakland-county-child-killer-case.
Bob, like so many in this case, “sort of” came forward. https://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/2012/10/anonymous_bob_releases_secret.html. We find ourselves hampered by the failure of people who know but fail to do the right thing; by mis and malfeasance by law enforcement over the decades; the silence money can buy; and qualified/governmental immunity. But Debbie Jarvis was right to ask that the case be handed over to the Department of Justice and for very large money damages. Someday we may get to the bottom of why both requests are legitimate and why qualified immunity should not protect those who abused society’s trust in the execution of their jobs.
As people in Oakland County are probably well aware ($$), it is not unheard of to have a prosecutor found personally and professionally liable in a civil lawsuit. https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2015/06/01/wendrow-julian-thal-facilitated-communication-oakland-county-dave-gorcyca/28320065/. L. Brooks Patterson is dead, as are Robert Robertson and Joe Krease from the state police, but I believe Oakland County itself and the MSP remain vulnerable in the OCCK case. Their efforts to conceal evidence, tamper with evidence and obstruct justice have afforded them decades of “safety.” My guess is agents at the FBI were involved in intentionally misdirecting and shutting down the OCCK investigation back in the day, but since you can’t even get a goddamn document from the FBI with all of the catastrophic flooding occurring at their document retention facilities, my guess is any action against them would be like driving into a brick wall.
If you know the truth–who was involved, who covered up, who got paid off–come forward and help turn this pain into power. If the evidence in the OCCK case had been properly handled, stored and tested, someone could be doing the genealogical testing that resulted in a “day of reckoning” yesterday in Sacramento. Ask why nothing happens in the OCCK case and why there is never any transparency whatsoever, let alone a day of reckoning.
Do not allow investigations to ever again be handled as this one was–the false narrative controlled at all times by the Michigan State Police and the Oakland County Prosecutors over the years, and child rapist and killers and their enablers never exposed or prosecuted. IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THE OAKLAND COUNTY CHILD KILLINGS OR RELATED CRIMINAL ACTIVITY DURING THE OCCK REIGN OF TERROR, CALL THE MSP TIP LINE AT 833-784-9425.