Defense Attorneys Say Joseph DeAngelo Was Compelled To Apologize To Victims

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — After days of listening to his victims speak in court, the confessed Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo, said he was sorry.

"I've listened to all your statements, each one of them, and I am truly sorry to everyone I hurt," DeAngelo said at the end of his sentencing Friday.

His defense attorneys Alice Michael and Joe Cress, who arguably have known his intentions the best, explained to CBS13 in an exclusive interview why DeAngelo was compelled to apologize.

"That's something Mr. DeAngelo wanted from the beginning. He wanted to accept responsibility," Michael said.

Michael and Cress say DeAngelo was thinking of his own family as he spoke to a room of families he hurt.

"It's known that he has three daughters and a granddaughter that he raised," Michael said.

READ: 'May He Rot In Hell': Golden State Killer Faces His Victims In 1st Day Of Hearings

"He wrote the statement. Making that statement didn't reduce the sentence in any way. He chose to make the statement because that's what he felt," Cress said.

After a week-long sentencing phase where the notorious killer was forced to face the people whose lives he so heinously ruined, his attorneys say DeAngelo has expressed remorse.

"Yes, he has expressed that to us many times. I know that it's going to be difficult if not impossible for people to believe, but yes he has expressed genuine remorse. That doesn't change the horrible nature of the crimes and that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve to spend the rest of his life in prison," Cress said.

But after at least 50 rapes and 13 murders, 11 lifetimes behind bars isn't long enough for the victims of the Golden State Killer.