The suspect behind a string of sexual assaults and one slaying that "terrorized" Washington, D.C., women in the 1990s is now in custody after he was nabbed through the novel investigative tool of genetic genealogy, authorities said.
"Between 1991 and 1998 a man terrorized our community as he brutally preyed upon and attacked multiple women across this region," D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said at a Thursday news conference.
Known as the Potomac River Rapist, the suspect -- now identified by police as 60-year-old Giles Daniel Warrick -- allegedly committed at least eight sexual assaults in Montgomery County, Maryland, and two sexual assaults in Washington, D.C., authorities said.
The Potomac River Rapist would cut phone lines, force his way into homes, cover the victims' heads and sexually assault them, authorities said.
It appears the attacks became more violent over time, police said. Among the 10 victims was Christine Mirzayan, a 29-year-old congressional fellow who was sexually assaulted, hit on the head, "brutally beaten" and murdered, Newsham said. The murder weapon was a 73-pound rock, according to the FBI.