The authorities confirmed on Wednesday that they had made an arrest in the unsolved case of a serial killer and rapist who terrorized communities in California in the 1970s and 1980s.
Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, was arrested on a warrant from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and booked early Wednesday on two counts of murder, according to Sacramento County jail records. A person familiar with the matter confirmed that Mr. DeAngelo had been arrested in connection with the case.
The Golden State Killer, also known as the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker, is thought to have killed 12 people, raped 45 people and burglarized more than 120 homes in multiple communities between 1976 and 1986. His victims included women home alone, women at home with their children, and husbands and wives from Sacramento to Orange County, the authorities said.
Shelly Orio, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office, said only that there had been a “major development” when asked to confirm local news media reports that there had been an arrest in the case.