NARRATOR: Hi.
 We're gonna be talking about
 violence and sexual violence
 in this series.
 Please take care
 while listening.
♪ (HBO INTRO PLAYS) ♪
NANCY MILLER: I'm not sure
 exactly when the date is,
 but I think you get to give
 a victim statement.
 -Is that correct? Or...
-KRIS PEDRETTI: Mm-hmm.
NANCY: And have you thought
 about that?
 If you'd-- Are you
 and the other survivors
 drafting those
 and sharing those? Or...
KRIS: I have my first page.
 Wrote it this morning,
 and I'm sure it'll change.
NANCY: In early July,
 I interviewed Kris Pedretti
 just days after
Joseph James DeAngelo's hearing
 where he pleaded guilty to
a staggering number of charges,
including murder and kidnapping.
Kris appears in the HBO series.
 She was just 15 when
 she was attacked by DeAngelo.
 She and scores
of other survivors were invited
to read victim impact statements
 at his sentencing in August.
 We didn't end up keeping this
 in the episode,
 but during our conversation,
 she read us the first draft
 of her statement.
KRIS: Okay, well, I have a lot
 of scratch outs too.
 So... I'm gonna jump around.
 So, on December 17, 1976,
 I was a 15-year-old
 normal kid...
NANCY: What she wrote
 that morning,
 she'd go on to edit over
 over again until reading it
 out loud in person directly
 in front of DeAngelo himself.
 Here's Kris at the sentencing.
KRIS: It was one week away
 from Christmas.
 Our house was decorated
 and I was having fun
 Christmas shopping
 for my friends and family.
My world was small, predictable,
 and safe.
 But by the time that night
 came to an end,
 my world changed forever.
♪ (THEME PLAYS) ♪
 This is the official companion
 podcast of HBO's
 I'll Be Gone in The Dark.
 I'm your host Nancy Miller.
We're back with a short episode
 to update you
 on DeAngelo's sentencing
 and highlight
 some of the victim's
 impact statements.
 For three days,
the survivors, their loved ones,
 and family members and friends
 of the murder victims gathered
 in Sacramento to confront
 DeAngelo.
 Judge Michael Bowman presided
 over the court.
 DeAngelo, who was sitting
 in his wheelchair
 with a COVID-19 mask covering
 half of his face,
 was positioned right across
 from where 50 people
 would give statements.
 Kris spoke on the first day
 of impact statements.
 She detailed the night
 of the attack
 and the long-lasting trauma
 it caused.
 DeAngelo stared passed her,
 never making eye contact
 with Kris.
KRIS: Do you feel any remorse
 for what you did to me?
 For the people whose lives
 you sadistically cut short?
 Or for the years of pain to
your victims and their families?
Do you finally feel humiliated?
NANCY: There was righteous anger
 in many of the speeches.
This was every survivor's chance
 to finally say to DeAngelo
 what had been building inside
 them for the past 40 years.
KRIS: You will forever be known
 as a repulsive coward
 who hid behind a mask of evil.
(SNIFFLES)
 The devil can keep you company
 in your prison cell
 as he gnaws away
at whatever soul you have left,
at whatever life you have left.
NANCY: Survivor Linda O'Dell
 spoke soon after Kris
 with Detective Carol Daly
 standing beside her.
 On day two,
 survivor Jane Carson-Sandler
delivered her impact statement,
 accompanied by Bonnie Ueltzen,
 DeAngelo's ex-fiancé,
 and both Gay and Bob Hardwick
 took the podium.
JANE CARSON-SANDLER:
 The aftermath of this attack
 has been with me for 42 years.
That's a very long life sentence
 for somebody
who had done nothing to deserve
 such hatred and violence
 and desecration of my body.
NANCY: Gay spoke at length
 about the psychological
 and physical effects of PTSD.
 How her brain's chemicals
 have been forever altered.
 To illustrate the impact,
 she held up three pieces
 of blank paper,
 representing three lives.
GAY HARDWICK: This life,
 paper number one,
 was never touched by
 Joe DeAngelo.
NANCY: She placed
that piece of paper to the side,
 and held up a second sheet.
GAY: This life,
 paper number two... (SNIFFLES)
 was murdered by Joe DeAngelo.
(PAPER CRUMBLES)
NANCY: Gay crumpled it up
 into a ball and set it down.
She reached for the third piece
 of paper which represented
 her life,
 her hopes and ambitions
 as a young 24-year-old.
 And then as she recalled
the night of DeAngelo's attack,
 she crumpled the paper
 into a ball
and then smoothed it out again.
GAY: This life, my life...
 will never again be like
 paper number one.
My life was now full of creases
 and wrinkles,
 and no matter how hard I tried
 to iron them all away,
 and press them
 and smooth the lines..
 make it function...
 my life would never be
 the same again.
NANCY: But Gay wasn't done yet.
 She took the time to explain
 the trauma caused,
 not just by the attack,
but by how the case was handled
 by police and local officials
 back in the 1970s
 and since DeAngelo's arrest,
 which is when she found out
 that DeAngelo himself
 was once a police officer.
GAY: To learn that DeAngelo's
 sworn to serve and protect
used his training and skill set
 to terrorize and rape
 and murder for years
 was staggering.
Not only that, but this devious
 psychopath pursued
 a Bachelor of Arts degree
 in Criminal Justice.
Not to serve and protect others,
 but to enable him
 to be a very prolific,
 self-preserving criminal.
♪ (MELANCHOLIC MUSIC PLAYS) ♪
NANCY: She held up
 one final paper
 representing DeAngelo.
 It was blackened, shredded,
 and sealed in a Ziploc bag.
GAY: This is opportunity that
 was turned into ugly choices,
 and when I was making
 this paper sculpture
 and I ran it through
 my paper shredder,
 doing that to Joe's life
 felt pretty good.
♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
NANCY: The last day
 of impact statements
 was reserved for the family
 and friends
 of the 13 murder victims,
 including some of the people
 we got to know in
 I'll Be Gone in the Dark.
 Jennifer Carole spoke.
 Her mother was Charlene Smith
 and her stepfather
 was Lyman Smith,
 as did Drew Witthuhn,
 who was Manuela Witthuhn's
 brother-in-law.
 And finally the day of
 DeAngelo's sentencing came.
 While his family,
 his ex-wife and daughters
 did not show up at sentencing,
 they prepared statements
 that were read
 by some of the attorneys.
 But most surprisingly,
 DeAngelo himself spoke.
 He stood up--
 easily, I might add,
 from his wheelchair
 and took off his mask.
JOSEPH DEANGELO: I've listened
 to all your... statements.
 Each one of 'em...
 and I'm really sorry
 to everyone I've hurt.
 Thank you, Your Honor.
NANCY: The honorable
 Judge Michael Bowman requested
 that DeAngelo be positioned
 in front of him
 for the sentencing.
 Bowman typically doesn't make
comments during this procedure,
 but he made an exception
 for this case.
JUDGE BOWMAN: I know
 whatever words I say today
 will pale in comparison
 to the words the survivors
 have spoken,
 but they need to be said.
 Fundamental principle of law
 that justice delayed
 is justice denied is no truer
 than in this case.
 But for the dogged persistence
 and perseverance
 of law enforcement,
 the survivors, their families
 and citizen detectives,
 this case may have remained
 unsolved.
 There are many heroes
 like Carol Daly, Paul Holes,
 Michelle McNamara
 and many heroes
 that I don't even know
 that brought this day here.
 And I have little doubt
 for the tenacity
 and unwavering quest
 for justice exhibited by
 Sacramento
 District Attorney's office,
 Anne Marie Schubert.
 You may have escaped
 earthly justice altogether.
NANCY: Judge Bowman then took
 several minutes
 sentencing DeAngelo.
 His sentence includes
 over 20 life terms.
BOWMAN: This is the absolute
 maximum sentence
 the court is able to impose
 under the law.
 And while the court has
no power to make a determination
 of where the defendant
 is imprisoned,
 the survivors have spoken
 clearly.
The defendant deserves no mercy.
(APPLAUSE)
NANCY: We don't yet know
which prison DeAngelo will spend
 the rest of his days,
 but many survivors shared
their hopes for his conditions.
 Bob Hardwick laid out his
 "fantasy sentencing,"
 where DeAngelo would be
 attacked several times a week
 by masked inmates,
 doing unto DeAngelo what he
 had done to his victims.
Kris Pedretti had another wish.
KRIS:
 DeAngelo deserves his sentence
 of life without parole in
 the most dark
 and lonely containment.
 If I had my way,
DeAngelo would only be provided
 our impact statements
 as reading material
 for the rest of his days.
NANCY: Judge Bowman nodded along
agreeing with Kris.
Last week's statements
were a special form of justice
for the survivors
and victim's loved ones.
It was personal, direct,
and unfiltered.
The takeaway from me
and anyone who is listening,
I suspect, is awe at these women
and their families
and their tremendous courage
and grace.
KRIS: Through this experience
 I have learned
 how utterly important it is
 to be able to express out loud
in some manner, whether verbally
 or in writing,
that the shame and guilt belongs
 to the rapist, not the victim.
NANCY: I am personally relieved
and honestly still in shock
that we're ending this HBO
docuseries and companion podcast
with the killer behind bars.
We're bringing this tragic,
strange,
but ultimately triumphant saga
to a close.
Except, there's one last thing.
Not about
the Golden State Killer,
but there's
one last puzzle piece
that the filmmakers wanted
to resolve on
Michelle McNamara's behalf.
The unsolved murder of
Kathy Lombardo.
So, in a special episode
we'll speak with
director-producer
Elizabeth Wolff
on just how far
she and the documentary team
got on this case.
New interviews, clues,
and insights into
the 1984 death of
Kathy Lombardo.
Stay subscribed so you don't
miss it. Until then.
NARRATOR: If you or someone
 you know has been
 sexually assaulted,
 you can get help by calling
 the Rape, Abuse and Incest
 National Network, or RAINN.
 You can call
 their 24-hour hotline
 at 800-656-H-O-P-E, HOPE,
 or visit hbo.com/gone
 for more resources.
