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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Richard Luscombe

California man found guilty of two 1980s murders thanks to new DNA technology

Murder California George Gascón
‘Using the latest in technology and forensics, we were able to secure a conviction against someone who targeted young women,’ said the Los Angeles county district attorney, George Gascón.
‘Using the latest in technology and forensics, we were able to secure a conviction against someone who targeted young women,’ said the Los Angeles county district attorney, George Gascón. Photograph: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/REX/Shutterstock

Prosecutors in California secured the conviction of a 1980s double murderer after the first use by Los Angeles county detectives of online genealogical databases to identify a suspect.

Horace Van Vaultz, now 67, killed Selena Keough, 20, in Montclair in 1981, and Mary Duggan, 22, in Burbank in 1986, but escaped justice for 36 years until investigators were able to link him to DNA from the victims.

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