SACRAMENTO, Calif - Sources confirm to KTXL that the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department has made a significant break in the search for the East Area Rapist, also known as the Golden State Killer.
A law enforcement source has named 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo as the suspect arrested in the decades-long case. The department said it hopes to release further information Wednesday.
DeAngelo was arrested at his Citrus Heights home and was booked into jail on two counts of murder.
Neighbors told KTXL they saw DeAngelo as a "nice guy" but was occasionally prone to profane outbursts heard throughout the neighborhood.
Police believe the East Area Rapist or Golden State Killer was responsible for 12 homicides, almost 50 rapes and 120 home burglaries that spanned a decade starting in the late 1970s in Sacramento County.
"It is the most prolific unsolved serial killing case probably in modern history," said Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert.
KTXL's "Exposed: East Area Rapist" podcast covered the cold case through interviews with victims, their families, and the original investigators.
Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert and Sheriff Scott Jones are expected to hold a press conference later on Wednesday.
