Families of Orange County victims confront Golden State Killer in court

Family members of Orange County victims of the Golden State Killer reflected Thursday on the sheer number of crimes committed by the serial killer and his sheer brutality as they confronted him for the first time in court.

Drew Witthuhn, whose sister-in-law was killed by Joseph DeAngelo in 1981, compared the hearings leading up to his sentencing to a war crimes tribunal, citing the crimes “committed against so many people, their families, their entire communities.”

“There were so many casualties in this war that took decades to conclude,” Drew Witthuhn said. “Thankfully, many are still living and with us to make their own statements of courage, strength and survival.”

DeAngelo is a former police officer who became one of the worst serial killers in state history, admitting to carrying out dozens of rapes and 13 murders in the 1970s and 1980s. During his lengthy crime wave, DeAngelo broke into countless homes in the dead of night, often binding, viciously threatening and beating his victims at gun- or knife-point before sexually assaulting them or their loved ones.

A plea deal DeAngelo agreed to earlier this year spared him the death penalty, while giving his victims and their families the chance to see him admit to the crimes and to confront DeAngelo in court.

Leading up to DeAngelo’s formal sentencing – which is expected Friday morning – dozens of victims have provided often emotion statements to the court, describing the sadistic assaults they suffered and the lifetime of trauma it left behind.

Beginning with a series of burglaries and rapes in the Sacramento area, the crimes committed by the Golden State Killer escalated to murders by the time he moved from the Sacramento area to the Central Valley, the Bay Area and, finally, to Southern California.

The Orange County killings began in 1980, with the slaying of Keith and Patty Harrington, a newlywed couple living in Dana Point.

Keith, a 24-year-old medical student, and Patty, a 28-year-old pediatric trauma nurse, had been married only three months. DeAngelo entered their home, bound both of them by their wrists and ankles and raped Patty. Then, he killed the couple by bludgeoning them in the head.

Keith’s father, Roger, discovered their bodies, finding them face down on a bed, covered by a comforter. Ron Harrington said his father was “never the same” and spent the last 15 years of his life focused on solving the murders, hiring private investigators and offering reward money.

“His crimes were so brutal, so heinous, so sadistic,” Ron Harrington said. “He is just a violent, sexual predator. Pure evil.”

A prosecutor read to the court a written letter by Cindy Irvine, who became close to Patty when she helped her family care for their newborn babies, who had been born premature.

“She took care of everything for everybody, always with a smile,” Irvine wrote. “She was an exceptional spirit who still touches souls on Earth to this day.”

In early 1981, DeAngelo targeted Manuela Witthuhn, who was living with her husband, David, in Irvine.

Witthuhn had visited her husband at the hospital, where he had been admitted with a stomach virus, and gone to dinner at her parents’ house before returning home. According to court filings, she told neighbors she was excited that her husband was expected to come home the next day.

DeAngelo broke into Witthuhn’s home, bound her wrists and ankles, raped her and then bludgeoned her to death. He is believed to have stolen jewelry and other items from the home before leaving.

“In her sleep, Manuela was literally pounced on, controlled, restrained and secured by this convict as she was nothing more than prey for a predator,” Drew Witthuhn told the judge.

When her husband was unable to reach Witthuhn he called her parents. Her mother discovered her body, left face down on her bed.

Investigators initially considered David Witthuhn a suspect in the killing, until he was cleared years later by DNA.

In 1986, DeAngelo killed 18-year-old Janelle Cruz, who had remained at her Irvine home while her mother, stepfather and 6-year-old brother left for a vacation in Mexico.

A friend from work had stopped by the home in the evening, since Cruz was afraid to be alone. At one point the two of them heard noises outside the house, but didn’t spot anyone and attributed it to a cat or a washer or dryer.

After the friend left, DeAngelo broke into the home, then attacked Cruz, beat her, raped her and bludgeoned her to death by striking her face and head. A real estate agent, who was handling the sale of the home, discovered her body.

“Joseph DeAngelo took everything from us,” said Michelle Cruz, Janelle’s sister. “He is a selfish, sadistic, calculating, cruel, pathetic piece of scum. What he did to my sister was more than evil.”

DNA evidence – much later tied to DeAngelo – convinced investigators that the four Orange County killings were related. It wasn’t until 2001 that authorities realized that the same person had carried out the earlier burglaries, rapes and killings across the state.