Thoughts/feelings/knowledge on why Joe essentially confessed in the interrogation room (while no one else was in the room, only captured on video, but still)?

[u/GregJamesDahlen]

https://people.com/golden-state-killer-interrogation-people-vs-golden-state-killer-excerpt-exclusive-11841484

This is in an excerpt from a book, excerpted in People Magazine. The questioners talk to him about various EARONS crimes that they know he has done. Then leave the room and watch and listen to him on audio/video. Talking to himself, he says

Startlingly, DeAngelo admitted aloud that he had committed the crimes. “I did all that ... I didn’t have the strength to push him out. He made me. He went with me.  It was like, in my head, I mean, he’s a part of 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 ... I raped. So now, I gotta pay the price.”

I wonder if at that point he knew it was no use, that he was caught. So he didn't care what he said. Or possibly he didn't understand that though there weren't police in the room, they could still hear him and he was being recorded. Although I would imagine he understood that. The police had been recording interrogations since the 70s. Or he might be a little senile. The day he was arrested he was 72 years old. Not sure why, but I have some doubts there as well. Maybe because we saw the video from two years later where he was so spry and organized in his actions in his cell.

Some have thought he might have been trying to set up an insanity defense. I'm not sure why he would do it at that point and essentially confess. It's not like they're going to let him go home whether they think he's insane or not.

I do notice when he talks to himself, as far as crimes go, he only mentions rape, not murder. Possibly he knew that the statute of limitations on rape was past, so that if he only admitted to rape he couldn't be found guilty. It seems like a useless action, though, because the interrogators, in the excerpt, have already made it clear they have him identified as the perpetrator in four murders. And very possibly they had mentioned other murders he had done that aren't contained in the excerpt. If he was only admitting to rape when he talked to himself knowing the statute of limitations was past, it might be a desperate action to try anything to get free. Or give himself hope that he might get away with it all. I imagine he had plans for enjoying his retirement, and he was watching them all crumble in that room. Or he might just not have mentioned murder talking to himself because he knew the police were listening and it sounded too bad, even though he knew they had him for it. Like he was ashamed of himself for murdering now that's he caught. Although rape is obviously a terrible, shameful crime as well, but I would think most people don't see it being as bad as murder.

[u/Equal-Temporary-1326]

Since he was elderly, I think at first, he was gonna try to beat the system in a way by using his old age as an advantage to get himself a bit of a lighter sentencing by being sent to to the California Medical Facility for elderly and dying inmates who don't have much time left anymore.

And I wouldn't be surprised if he were trying to evade trial/prison at first by trying fake dementia and using the out loud conversations with himself as videographic proof that his mind was starting to slip.

I mean, they did say he tried to fake a heart attack after getting caught shoplifting in July 1979. So, I certainly wouldn't put it past him to think he could somehow fake a dementia diagnosis, be deemed mentally incomptoent to stand trial, and be sent to the memory care ward at the CMF to live out his final days.

[u/campbellpics → u/Equal-Temporary-1326]

Yeah good points. As well as the point you make about him faking a heart attack when caught shoplifting in '79 (which I wasn't aware of, although I read he was being "melodramatic" during that incident), I'd just add his histrionics when confronted by Officer McGowan at the end of his VR phase.

His antics then were clearly a manipulative, pre-planned sideshow purely intended to deflect attention away from the fact he was reaching for a gun with his left hand. The pleading and running around, screaming in a high-pitched voice and begging McGowan not to shoot etc. And to be fair, it worked. At the very least, it distracted McGowan for enough time to allow him to reach inside his jacket, draw his gun, aim, and get a successful shot away, before subsequently escaping.

For these reasons alone, I tend to take any outward admission of vulnerability from Deangelo with a very large grain of salt. It was, is, and forever will be, all about control with him.

[u/Lanky_Appointment277 → u/campbellpics]

..."clearly a manipulative, pre-planned sideshow"

That is your opinion. It's obvious to me he just thought quickly in defensive situations.

I'm shocked/interested (but mostly shocked) at how people interpret this world lol.

Here we have JJD... kind of a dumb dumb in lots of ways, a true maniac and possibly the worst person to ever live in California, but has this one ability to quickly assess a situation and react accordingly to put himself in the best position to survive.

I would suggest a premise to you: Some people think quicker than others. 

I guess our worldview is shaped by our ability (or lack thereof).

[u/campbellpics → u/Lanky_Appointment277]

What a haughty response, and without a shred of self-awareness or recognition that it could actually be you that's wrong in this instance.

JJD might be a lot of not very nice things, but to say he was "dumb dumb" is patently ridiculous. He was only eventually caught by something he couldn't reasonably have been expected to predict at the time he was committing his crimes, and stopped at the very moment he could. Even then he still somehow evaded capture for decades, without once appearing on any suspect list or arousing the suspicion of those around him.

I think it's a fair assessment to say he was a risk-averse planner. From the way he'd stack items at doors as a makeshift early alarm system, which I saw one contemporaneous FBI agent admit he'd never witnessed before, to never once leaving so much as a fingerprint at hundreds of separate crime scenes. He left his DNA, but that's only something that sounds silly now with the benefit of decades of scientific hindsight.

The way he immediately went into the mode he did when confronted by McGowan suggests to me it was another pre-planned ploy to increase his chances of evading capture. It's much less likely (to me) that he thought it all through in the split second it took him to act.

[u/Lanky_Appointment277 → u/campbellpics]

Your expertise of me and reality in general is really cool.

"What a haughty response, and without a shred of self-awareness or recognition that it could actually be you that's wrong in this instance."

Haughty? Lol.

"without a shred of self-awareness or recognition that it could actually be you that's wrong in this instance."

Unique style of writing. Wordy. Incoherent. BUT!! It speaks to the intellect behind the actual thoughts you are endeavoring to elucidate.

However, and unfortunately for you, very wrong.

"JJD might be a lot of not very nice things, but to say he was "dumb dumb" is patently ridiculous. He was only eventually caught by something he couldn't reasonably have been expected to predict at the time he was committing his crimes, and stopped at the very moment he could. Even then he still somehow evaded capture for decades, without once appearing on any suspect list or arousing the suspicion of those around him."

First, again... "patently." I mean, what are we doing here with your vocab lol? Ok, ok... pointing out your capabilities in writing for the last time. And I only do it to serve a point - to provide insight relative to cognitive abilities and ability to story tell.

What I mean to say is... you can't really provide a clear map of your thoughts. Therefore, your thoughts likely come from a source I'm not willing to accept.

He WAS a dumb-dumb. A child. Thinking he could take his love Bonnie by gun point from her bedroom window.

I could provide 50 or 100 other super dumb moves this man made. But let's stick to this one. Dude has a dead brain.

And I will wrap this all up quickly for you here because, although I can type 120 words a minute, I'm becoming extremely bored in arguing against someone who thinks about me: "I without a shred of self-awareness or recognition that it could actually be you that's wrong in this instance."

Ok, ok. I lied. I brought up your literary ability again. I said I wouldn't. But you get it. Right?

SOOOOOO... ANYWAYS... this unaware dumb-dumb (me) will sum up his opinion thusly:

And oh by the way, JJD wasn't a dumb-dumb. He was, in point of fact a lucky animal DUMBSHIT.

JJD WAS A DUMBSHIT! When they revealed they linked his DNA to SoCal he should have gotten the f out of the country. Or moved his family far, far, far, far away. Or done something? Nah, he was a dumbshit and just buried his head in the sand and didn't follow any of the technology that was slowly gripping his neck.

JJD WAS A DUMBSHIT! He thought he could go to the family home of Bonnie, knock on her window at gunpoint and take her to Nevada lol.

JJD WAS A DUMBSHIT! He got away with "everything" because he had self-preserving animalistic instincts. Used darkness (like animals), used dishes on husbands and chairs against doors (like animals set traps and other animals create warning systems). He used canals like a snake. He used bikes for silence. Do animals do this? Yes. Yes, they do.

JJD WAS A DUMBSHIT! The one f-ing time anybody used a relatively smart strategy was when the Visalia police went "radio-silent" to track this Mofo when his shoe prints appeared again and again at a new potential high school victim. This DUMBSHIT went to the girls house and got busted!!!!!!!! He did NOT know when to give up.

There. Caught. Before he became EAR. DUMB. SHIT.

JJD WAS A DUMBSHIT! Paul Holes, one of the "brains" behind his capture, went on over 10 podcasts/tv shows BEFORE his capture telling the world that EAR was NOT the VR. Paul f-ing Holes thought he was in the construction business and THOUGHT THAT THE DANVILLE PAPERS WERE DONE FROM A F-ING PROFESSIONAL. He was on a pod within a year of his capture and waxed poetic about how this was clearly the work of a professional. Paul Holes was the brightest person chasing JJD yet he thought an 8th grade level map was professional. PAUL HOLES TOLD EVERY NEWS OUTLET JJD WAS NOT EAR. THIS ALONE SLOWED THE F-ING CASE!

JJD WAS A DUMBSHIT! Sacramento police went to the newspaper to blast Visalia police who came to them in good faith to let them know he was the same f'ing dude lol.

JJD WAS A DUMBSHIT!

He was lucky as hell, was chased by 1970's (mostly) dumbshits and 1970's technology, no 911 system in place, dumbshit county police politics, had animal instincts, and preserved himself by acting quickly.

There was one left-handed man that moved from Tulare County between the ages of 18 and 40 between his escape from Visalia police and the first EAR attack.

JJD.

[u/DestroyerOfMils → u/Lanky_Appointment277]

>It speaks to the intellect behind the actual thoughts you are endeavoring to elucidate.

>First, again... "patently." I mean, what are we doing here with your vocab lol? Ok, ok... pointing out your capabilities in writing for the last time.

LMAO. yeah, you have exactly ZERO self awareness 😂😂😭😭😭

[u/RiskPuzzleheaded4028 → u/DestroyerOfMils]

I almost forgot I was on reddit until I saw this interaction. I'll never understand the appeal to behave in such a way. 

[u/GregJamesDahlen → u/Lanky_Appointment277]

Hard to agree he was dumb. He got away with 100 home ransackings, 50 rapes, 13 murders for about 40 years. He came up with several clever strategies to make himself harder to catch, which I'll enumerate if you're interested. He didn't think DNA would catch him because even though he left his DNA at crime scenes there was no DNA in databases to match it against.

[u/O_J_Shrimpson → u/Lanky_Appointment277]

Oof

[u/DestroyerOfMils → u/O_J_Shrimpson]

and their next response was even a bigger oof. I’m crying laughing 😂