The Serial Killer From HBO’s ‘I’ll Be Gone In The Dark’ Has Been Sentenced To 26 Life Terms

Joseph DeAngelo, the convicted serial killer whose gruesome crimes made national headlines and were the subject of a number of high profile media pieces such as HBO’s I’ll Be Gone In The Dark, was sentenced to 26 life terms without parole on Friday.

Known widely as the Golden State Killer, DeAngelo had confessed to at least 50 rapes and the murders of 13 women in the 1970s and 80s and became the subject of a number of investigations, including from author Michelle McNamara. A CNN report includes many of the gruesome details about DeAngelo’s crimes and the trial’s concluding moments, which decided he will spend the rest of his life in prison without parole.

Before sentencing, DeAngelo told the court: “I’ve listened to all your statements, each one of them and I am truly sorry to everyone I hurt.”

Last year, DeAngelo pleaded guilty to raping more than 50 women and murdering 13 people in the 1970s and 80s. As part of a plea deal, he also admitted to crimes he has not been charged with.

Prosecutors called for the maximum penalty as they remembered DeAngelo’s “voiceless” victims and their “unspeakable” suffering. They referred to the killer as the boogeyman, the devil, a madman and a beast who will never walk the streets again.

The decades-long investigation was helped in large part by McNamara, a true-crime author who became interested in the case and later helped tie a number of crimes to a single killer. She died in 2016 before DeAngelo was formally charged in the cases. Her book about the investigation was published posthumously and later turned into the HBO show I’ll Be Gone In The Dark.

Patton Oswalt, McNamara’s husband, reacted on Twitter on Friday, not about the killer’s sentence but reflecting on his wife’s passing and the victims that finally saw justice in the eyes of the law.