California man convicted of 1980s rape-murders of two women with help of genealogy websites

Los Angeles — A California man prosecutors called a serial killer was convicted Thursday of raping and killing two women in the 1980s after investigators linked him to DNA evidence, prosecutors said.

Horace Van Vaultz Jr., 67, was found guilty of first-degree murder with the special circumstance allegations that the crimes involved multiple murders, rape and sodomy, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said in a statement.

Vaultz, a former Bakersfield resident, has been jailed since his 2019 arrest. He could face life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced next month.