‘Messenger of Lord’ Rapist Gets 117 Years
A man known as the “messenger of the Lord rapist” was sentenced Friday to 117 years in prison. Joseph Brian Socha, 29, was convicted on June 10 of 20 counts of sexual assault, kidnaping and robbery stemming from a string of attacks on five women in San Pedro and Long Beach.
Socha had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the crimes, which occurred between July and September, 1990. Three days after his conviction, the jury held that he was sane when the crimes took place. He had faced a maximum sentence of 231 years.
Socha was dubbed the “messenger of the Lord rapist” by police after most of the victims said their assailant identified himself as St. Peter, messenger of the Lord. In four of the five cases, Socha cut off his victims’ hair with a knife and carved inverted crosses in their backs.
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