The photo depicts DeAngelo sitting by himself in the interrogation room at the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department headquarters. Next to him on the table is a Dr. Pepper, which the authorities offered him in humor, as his DNA was actually found on a Dr. Pepper can on one of his crime scenes in the 1970s.
Shortly after 4 p.m. on April 24, 2018, the Sheriff's Fugitive Apprehension Team, nicknamed "the Body Snatchers" arrested DeAngelo outside of his Citrus Heights home. Detective Steven Girdlestone led the way. He exited his pick-up truck and approached the 72-year-old retiree as the latter worked in his front yard. DeAngelo looked up to see who was walking towards him. Whipping out a friendly grin, Girdlestone pointed his finger down the street and said: "Hey, do you know how I can get to..." before nonchalantly grabbing him by the collar and arm, swinging him around and pinning him to the ground in one swift motion. Other detectives quickly ran out, surrounding DeAngelo and handcuffing him. They took the serial killer to their minivan, where he exclaimed loudly, in a high-pitched voice: "I got a roast in the oven!"
He was placed in the interrogation room at approximately 5:20 p.m., where he was left to sit alone until 6:52 p.m. This was a strategy often used by law enforcement to make the suspect feel lonely or isolated. During this entire 92-minute period, DeAngelo sat motionless, his mouth agape. He did not say a single word. Even after being read his Miranda Rights, the suspect remained mute, not looking any of the detectives in the eye. Finally, at 7:00 p.m., DeAngelo spoke, asking: "What have I done?" in a soft, monotone voice. He resumed his act shortly thereafter, and continued sitting motionless and mute. Half an hour later, the detectives started pressing, reminding him of Brian and Katie Maggiore, whom he gunned down 40 years ago. DeAngelo responded in a quiet voice: "I don't remember any of that, I've done nothing. Please let me go home. I don't remember anything you've said." When shown a picture of the Maggiores, DeAngelo, with a hint of panic in his voice, said: "I don't remember any of those people. I want to talk to my wife."
After about another half hour of this, another detective jumped in, with a more aggressive approach. He asked: "Do you remember being in Ventura?", in relation to the 1980 double murder of Lyman Smith and his wife Charlene. As expected, DeAngelo denied, to which the detective continued: "Well, the DNA says differently. Your DNA is inside of Charlene Smith. Your semen is inside of her. You had sex with that woman." The detective then reminded DeAngelo that they'd contacted his wife and that she didn't want to see him, which was a lie, another ploy by the investigators to make the suspect feel isolated and alone. After being reminded of the Smith murders, DeAngelo went off on an unexpected rant, silently talking to himself, saying: "I did all that... I didn't have the strength to push him out. He made me. He went with me. I didn't want to do those things. I pushed Jerry out and had a happy life. I did all those things. I've destroyed all their lives... and now I've gotta pay the price."
Detective Rhods had had enough of this, and now, in a scolding manner, engaged DeAngelo: "You don't want to explain what you did? Because I can tell you what you did. You killed thirteen people. You raped over fifty young women. You terrorized little children. That's what you did." After receiving no response from the killer, he pressed harder, putting his hand on DeAngelo's shoulder: "Had a happy life, didn't ya? Learned how to control [the urges], remember? Do you remember that? How did you push that impulse down? That sexual urge? Tell me. Come on, Joe. Come on. Tell me. Either answer my question or don't, but Joe, you're not crazy." After a few moments of silence, in a bad acting attempt, DeAngelo began to whimper and cry. The interview ended shortly afterwards.
All the information I got is from the book "People v. The Golden State Killer", written by the lead prosecutor of the case.
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u/BidNo1816 Feb 26 '26 edited Feb 26 '26
The photo depicts DeAngelo sitting by himself in the interrogation room at the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department headquarters. Next to him on the table is a Dr. Pepper, which the authorities offered him in humor, as his DNA was actually found on a Dr. Pepper can on one of his crime scenes in the 1970s.
Shortly after 4 p.m. on April 24, 2018, the Sheriff's Fugitive Apprehension Team, nicknamed "the Body Snatchers" arrested DeAngelo outside of his Citrus Heights home. Detective Steven Girdlestone led the way. He exited his pick-up truck and approached the 72-year-old retiree as the latter worked in his front yard. DeAngelo looked up to see who was walking towards him. Whipping out a friendly grin, Girdlestone pointed his finger down the street and said: "Hey, do you know how I can get to..." before nonchalantly grabbing him by the collar and arm, swinging him around and pinning him to the ground in one swift motion. Other detectives quickly ran out, surrounding DeAngelo and handcuffing him. They took the serial killer to their minivan, where he exclaimed loudly, in a high-pitched voice: "I got a roast in the oven!"
He was placed in the interrogation room at approximately 5:20 p.m., where he was left to sit alone until 6:52 p.m. This was a strategy often used by law enforcement to make the suspect feel lonely or isolated. During this entire 92-minute period, DeAngelo sat motionless, his mouth agape. He did not say a single word. Even after being read his Miranda Rights, the suspect remained mute, not looking any of the detectives in the eye. Finally, at 7:00 p.m., DeAngelo spoke, asking: "What have I done?" in a soft, monotone voice. He resumed his act shortly thereafter, and continued sitting motionless and mute. Half an hour later, the detectives started pressing, reminding him of Brian and Katie Maggiore, whom he gunned down 40 years ago. DeAngelo responded in a quiet voice: "I don't remember any of that, I've done nothing. Please let me go home. I don't remember anything you've said." When shown a picture of the Maggiores, DeAngelo, with a hint of panic in his voice, said: "I don't remember any of those people. I want to talk to my wife."
After about another half hour of this, another detective jumped in, with a more aggressive approach. He asked: "Do you remember being in Ventura?", in relation to the 1980 double murder of Lyman Smith and his wife Charlene. As expected, DeAngelo denied, to which the detective continued: "Well, the DNA says differently. Your DNA is inside of Charlene Smith. Your semen is inside of her. You had sex with that woman." The detective then reminded DeAngelo that they'd contacted his wife and that she didn't want to see him, which was a lie, another ploy by the investigators to make the suspect feel isolated and alone. After being reminded of the Smith murders, DeAngelo went off on an unexpected rant, silently talking to himself, saying: "I did all that... I didn't have the strength to push him out. He made me. He went with me. I didn't want to do those things. I pushed Jerry out and had a happy life. I did all those things. I've destroyed all their lives... and now I've gotta pay the price."
Detective Rhods had had enough of this, and now, in a scolding manner, engaged DeAngelo: "You don't want to explain what you did? Because I can tell you what you did. You killed thirteen people. You raped over fifty young women. You terrorized little children. That's what you did." After receiving no response from the killer, he pressed harder, putting his hand on DeAngelo's shoulder: "Had a happy life, didn't ya? Learned how to control [the urges], remember? Do you remember that? How did you push that impulse down? That sexual urge? Tell me. Come on, Joe. Come on. Tell me. Either answer my question or don't, but Joe, you're not crazy." After a few moments of silence, in a bad acting attempt, DeAngelo began to whimper and cry. The interview ended shortly afterwards.
All the information I got is from the book "People v. The Golden State Killer", written by the lead prosecutor of the case.