By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON

Police in California took a 72-year-old former officer into custody on suspicion of being responsible for a series of murders and rapes dating back to the 1970s, authorities announced Wednesday.

Authorities apprehended Joseph James DeAngelo at his northern California home Tuesday afternoon.

Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones told reporters DNA evidence led police to identify DeAngelo as the Golden State Killer.

Police have tied a dozen homicides, more than 50 rapes and dozens of burglaries to the elusive serial killer. The crimes took place throughout California from 1976 to 1986.

The DNA evidence links DeAngelo to two of those murders: the 1978 slayings of Katie and Brian Maggiore, Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said.

"We knew that we were looking for a needle in a haystack, but we also knew that needle was there," Schubert told reporters. "We found the needle in the haystack, and it was right here in Sacramento."

The Maggiores were killed while walking their dog in a Sacramento suburb.

Police believe they spotted the serial killer, who was also known as "the East Area Rapist" and "the Original Night Stalker", as he was attempting to break into a home.

DeAngelo is being held without bail on the two murder charges, and two other capital murder charges have been filed against him related to the 1980 slaying of another couple. Additional charges are expected.

The Golden State Killer was known for a series of home break-ins that took place while either a single female resident or a couple were sleeping. The crimes began in the Sacramento suburbs in the summer of 1976, the FBI said, noting that the suspect would enter the home by prying open a door or window while the victims slept, catch them off-guard by shining a light into their eyes and then tie the victims up.

He would then ransack the residence and rape the female victim, the FBI said. From 1979 until 1986, the crimes also included murder, according to the bureau.

DeAngelo is a former police officer who was fired in 1979 for shoplifting.