An ex-policeman charged with murder in connection with a string of rapes and killings across California attributed to the “Golden State Killer” made a brief initial court appearance on Friday, sitting in a wheelchair and speaking in a hoarse voice. Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, who was arrested this week at his home in the Sacramento suburb of Citrus Heights, was formally apprised of two of the eight murder counts against him and ordered back to court on May 14. DeAngelo has so far been charged with eight counts of murder blamed on the Golden State Killer, in crimes that sprawled from Sacramento all the way to Southern California, including two in Sacramento County, two in Ventura County and four in Orange County.