01 June 2018

The Trial Of A Monster, Pt 5: Judge Rules: Some Affidavits To Remain Sealed From Public



This afternoon Joseph James DeAngelo once again appeared in front of Judge Michael Sweet, appropriately locked in a cage like an animal.

The juicy bits of the hearing regarded evidence procured from a search of DeAngelo's home during the days following his April 24th arrest, and whether or not said evidence would be unsealed and released to the curious public.

DeAngelo did not attend a closed hearing yesterday, wherein Judge Sweet spent hours listening to long-winded arguments from the defense about exactly what information should be redacted from the warrants before public release.

Sweet's decision today may be a tad disappointing to those morbidly curious of the search results: no information concerning the actual search will be released*. Portions of the overall affidavits, however, will be made public, including law enforcement's methods of tracking DeAngelo. Evidence related to any of DeAngelo's sexual assault charges will also remain sealed from the public, due in part to the inevitable odds of creating prejudice among potential jurors. On the plus side, details of his alleged murders - up to at least twelve, for those counting - are to be unsealed, although just how much of said evidence will be redacted remains to be seen, at least for now... the documents are expected to be released later this afternoon.

It has been suggested that the aforementioned search of DeAngelo's home yielded the discovery of possible trophies which the Golden State Killer kept from his victims - a disturbing hobby popular among serial killers. News of these trophies naturally roused interest among long-time followers of the case, who have long speculated whether the notorious serial rapist had kept items taken from the scene of his crimes, which could include anything from victims' driver's licenses to locks of hair - essentially, any evidence that would be conclusively damning.

But mum's the word for the time being, and those devoted followers patiently waiting to learn just what was found in DeAngelo's house will have to retain what's left of that patience for Lord knows how much longer.*

DeAngelo is slated to return to court on July 12th.

*edit: It appears I was mistaken. The link below contains (50 or so pages in) a laundry list of the "trophies" DeAngelo kept, includinlots of jewelry, most of it seemingly personal with inscriptions like "Love forever [REDACTED] Xmas 72," a photograph of [REDACTED] in a bikini, plenty of driver's licenses and photographs of more redacted names (including one high school photograph, YIKES), a .357 Magnum revolver (!!!), victims' HOUSE KEYS, prescription painkillers, and a "blunt object" containing blood, tissue, and hair from murder victim Janelle Cruz.

I suggest checking it out. Some truly disturbing stuff.


*****UPDATE: WARRANT DOCUMENTS RELEASED*****

Well, that was fast. 171 pages of arrest/search warrant documents have been released, so if you're curious enough, make yourself a pot of coffee and find a comfortable spot to sit for however many hours it takes to peruse the tome. Be prepared, of course, for massive redactions.

The documents can be found here.


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