「刑務所でくたばればいい」　米殺人鬼の被害者が意見陳述

【ロサンゼルスＡＦＰ＝時事】米カリフォルニア州で1970～80年代に凶悪犯罪を繰り返し、「黄金州の殺人鬼」と呼ばれた元警察官ジョゼフ・ジェームズ・デアンジェロ・ジュニア被告（74）の公判で18日、被害者の男女十数人が意見陳述を行い、自らの恐ろしい体験を語った。（写真は米カリフォルニア州サクラメントで行われたジョゼフ・ジェームズ・デアンジェロ・ジュニア被告の公判で意見陳述を行い、被告に中指を突き立てる被害者パトリシア・マーフィーさんの娘パティ・コスパーさん）
　デアンジェロ被告は司法取引に応じており、２１日に１１回の終身刑（仮釈放の可能性なし）が言い渡され裁判は終了する予定。判決言い渡し前の３日間は、被害者側に陳述の機会が与えられた。
　カリフォルニア州史上最悪の凶悪犯の一人とされるデアンジェロ被告は、１９７５年から８６年にかけて１３人を殺害した罪のほか、女性約５０人に対する性的暴行や、数十件の強盗や拉致の罪を認めている。
　１５歳だった１９７６年１２月に被害に遭ったクリス・ペドレッティさんは公判で、被告からむごたらしい暴行を受け、殺すと脅された当時を回想。
　「翌朝目が覚めて、自分がもう子どもには戻れないことを知った。生きていることに本当に感謝したけれど、同時に自分はすでに死んだと感じた」
　パトリシア・マーフィーさんは２９歳で２児の母親だった１９７６年９月、両親の自宅で被告に繰り返し暴行を受けた。事件後の人生は取り返しがつかないほど変わってしまったという。
　マーフィーさんの代わりに意見陳述書を読み上げた娘のパティ・コスパーさんは、デアンジェロ被告を「魂のない邪悪な怪物」と呼び、被告に向かって中指を突き立て「刑務所でくたばればいい」と言い放った。
　ピート・シュルツィさんは１１歳だった時、被告が家に押し入り、シュルツィさんをベッドの脚に縛り付けた上で、母親に繰り返し暴行を働いた。父親はその後何年にもわたり、野球バットを脇に置いて眠っていたという。シュルツィさんは被告に向かって、「あなたの苦しみは始まったばかりだ」と述べた。
　オレンジ色のつなぎ服とマスクを身に着けたデアンジェロ被告は、感情を見せず、目の前の壁を見つめたまま陳述に耳を傾けていた。
　捜査当局は、被告の親族が利用した家系図データベースと犯行現場から採取したＤＮＡを照合し、被告を犯人と特定。２０１８年に逮捕に至った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/08/20-14:28）

Dozens of women and men who were terrorized by California's 'Golden State Killer' during a sadistic decade-long crime spree finally got their day in court Tuesday as they spoke emotionally of their trauma.
The victims of Joseph DeAngelo Jr., a former police officer, appeared in court on the first of three days of testimonies before he is to be sentenced on Friday to 11 life terms without the possibility of parole as part of a plea deal.
Tuesday's hearing began with the testimony of Phyllis Henneman, one of about 50 women DeAngelo has admitted raping.
DeAngelo, 74, has also pled guilty to killing 13 people between 1975 and 1986, and to committing dozens of robberies and kidnappings in one of the most vicious crime sprees in the state's history.
Henneman, whose statement was read by her sister because she suffers from cancer, said she had gone to bed on that fateful night in June 1976 not knowing my life would change.
He deserves to spend the rest of his miserable life in prison, Henneman said, describing years of living in anxiety and fear until DeAngelo was finally arrested in 2018.
Kris Pedretti, who was 15 when DeAngelo raped her in December 1976, described how he tormented her and vowed to kill her during the ordeal.
At three different times that night, I thought I was going to die, Pedretti said. I sang 'Jesus Loves Me' in my head as I waited to die.
The next morning, December 19, I woke up knowing I would never be a child again and, although I was truly grateful to be alive, I also felt that I had died, she added.
Patricia Murphy, who was 29 and a mother of two when DeAngelo repeatedly raped her in her parents' home in September 1976, said her life was forever changed after the attack.
- 'Evil monster' -
Murphy, whose statement was read by her daughter Patti Cosper, described DeAngelo as an evil monster with no soul and said he should be punished to the full extent of the law for the horrific crimes he committed.
Did his little penis drive him to be so angry all the time? she said in her statement. Did he study criminology so he could carry out his evil deeds as a bad cop without getting caught?
Cosper at one point during the testimony raised her middle finger and pointed it at her mom's rapist.
May you rot in prison, she said.
Pete Schultze, who was 11 years old when DeAngelo broke into his parents' home, tying him to a bedpost while he repeatedly raped his mom, described how his father slept with a baseball bat for years following the attack.
Your suffering, sir, has just began, he told DeAngelo. The Boogeyman is gone.
DeAngelo, who wore an orange jail jumpsuit and a face mask, showed no emotion and gazed at the wall in front of him in the Sacramento courtroom as he listened to the testimony.
The impact statements will be heard through Thursday before DeAngelo is sentenced.
His arrest in 2018 came after investigators successfully matched DNA evidence from crime scenes with a family genealogy database used by his relatives.
The known attacks began in 1975, initially in the Sacramento area of central California, before spreading out across the state.
The spree apparently ended abruptly in 1986 with the rape and murder of an 18-year-old girl.
Along the way, the meticulous masked assailant was given a number of other nicknames including the East Area Rapist, the Diamond-Knot Killer and the Original Nightstalker.
DeAngelo in June pleaded guilty to 13 murders as well as dozens of rapes, kidnappings and robberies.
As part of his plea deal, his life sentences will be served consecutively, meaning he has no chance at ever walking free.