Police said they have caught the Baseline Killer, the gunman responsible for nine slayings that spread terror across the Phoenix area for nearly a year.
Police Chief Jack Harris said on Thursday that investigators are recommending that Mark Goudeau, a 42-year-old construction worker who has been in jail since September, be charged with 71 counts, including nine murders -- most of them random shootings committed on the street at night.
Goudeau was arrested three months ago in two sexual assaults that were attributed to the Baseline Killer. But at the time, police stopped short of pronouncing him the Baseline Killer while they built a case against the ex-convict.
Commander Joe Klima, who oversaw the investigation, said that investigators have collected forensic evidence -- including DNA and ballistics -- and other evidence implicating Goudeau. He would not elaborate.
"All of this evidence points to Mark Goudeau as the one who committed these crimes," he said.
Prosecutor Andrew Thomas said his office would draw up the charges.
"I still believe this man should never again be able to walk the streets of this Valley or anywhere else in freedom," Thomas said. "I'm going to do everything within my lawful authority to make sure that that is the outcome."
The Baseline Killer case originally included 23 shootings, rapes and robberies that left eight people dead between August last year and June. The dead, seven of them women, ranged in age from 19 to 39. Most were killed going about their daily activities.
A ninth killing was not publicly revealed until Thursday. The victim, Sophia Nunez, 37, was found dead in her Phoenix home by her eight-year-old son in April. Other cases were dropped from the investigation, leaving a total of 19 in which Goudeau is a suspect.
Police have said the killer usually struck at night and wore disguises, which included a wig of dreadlocks and a fisherman's hat. The name Baseline Killer came from the street where some of the earliest crimes were committed.
The Baseline Killer was one of two serial killer cases that spread fear across the Phoenix area.
In August, police arrested two roommates in what was dubbed the Serial Shooter case in which seven people were killed.
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