The now 74-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo, notorious as the "Golden State killer", pleaded guilty to all 13 murders carried out in the 1970s and 1980s, many of which were bestial. He also admitted several rapes, burglaries and other crimes for which he was charged.

In a settlement before the court hearing, DeAngelo will be sentenced to life imprisonment without the right to release. The culprit thus avoids the threat of capital punishment, while the many relatives of the victims and others involved do not go through a lengthy legal process, the Reuters news agency writes.

The sentence will be formalized in a new court hearing in August. Then victims and their relatives will give their testimonies

Arrested after 40 years

Monday's court hearing was held in a Sacramento State University ballroom, when social distancing during the corona pandemic made it impossible to negotiate in a courtroom.

DeAngelo was charged with 13 murders. With a rough voice and dressed in orange prison uniform, he answered yes to the question of being guilty of the first thing brought up in court.

He was arrested in 2018 after 40 years of police work. The breakthrough came when DNA evidence was posted on DNA-oriented genealogy sites for the purpose of getting a hit, but the case's clarification also got the help of a book and a TV documentary about the case.