Police ID 2 men being questioned in slayings

The suspected "Golden State Killer," accused of murders across California, will be prosecuted in one combined trial in Sacramento, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Joseph DeAngelo, a 72-year-old former police officer, was arrested this April, following decades in which California law enforcement officers were stumped by what became known as the "Golden State Killer" case.

PHOTO: Joseph James Deangelo, known as The Golden State Killer, is seen in this police booking photo, April 25, 2018, after being apprehended. — Joseph James Deangelo, known as "The Golden State Killer," is seen in this police booking photo, April 25, 2018, after being apprehended.

An amended complaint filed Tuesday morning in Sacramento alleges crimes including 13 counts of murder, spanning six jurisdictions in the northern, central and southern parts of the state, prosecutors said at Tuesday's news conference.

(MORE: How DNA from family members helped solve the 'Golden State Killer' case: DA)

The unified prosecutors said they are committed to delivering justice for the victims and their loves ones in the single jurisdiction.

"We stand united" on "team justice," Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said Tuesday.

DeAngelo is in custody in Sacramento County and has not entered a plea.

He will be arraigned on the amended complaint on Thursday, Schubert said.

(MORE: 'Going to kill you': Hear chilling phone call allegedly made by 'Golden State Killer')

The "Golden State Killer" was believed to have committed a string of murders, rapes and home burglaries throughout California in the 1970s and 1980s, with the last known crime in 1986.

But no arrest was made for decades.

PHOTO: An evidence room from the Golden State Killer investigation. — An evidence room from the "Golden State Killer" investigation.

(MORE: How DNA and genetic genealogy are becoming 'major' game-changers in decades-old cold cases)

In the early 2000s, investigators obtained the unknown killer's DNA at one crime scene: The murders of Lyman and Charlene Smith, who were bludgeoned to death at their Ventura County home in 1980.

Investigators then started reviewing rape kits -- which contained DNA samples from victims -- in other jurisdictions, prosecutors said.

PHOTO: This undated photo released by the FBI shows part of East Area Rapist Crime reports at the Sheriffs department evidence room in Sacramento, Calif. — This undated photo released by the FBI shows part of "East Area Rapist" Crime reports at the Sheriff's department evidence room in Sacramento, Calif.

(MORE: 'Golden State Killer' suspect allegedly killed his first victim in 1975, while he was a police officer)

This year, investigators plugged the mystery killer's DNA into a genealogy database.

Based on the pool of people on the genealogy website, investigators were then able to build a family tree of the unknown killer’s relatives, who had submitted their DNA to the database on their own.

Investigators narrowed the search based on age, location and other characteristics, leading them to DeAngelo.

Authorities conducted surveillance on DeAngelo and collected his DNA from a tissue left in a trash. Investigators plugged his discarded DNA back into the genealogy database and found a match, linking DeAngelo's DNA to evidence gathered at multiple crime scenes, prosecutors said.

Kaynak:Abcnews

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