Current Events > Infamous serial killer, dubbed the Zodiac Killer, arrested for new killing

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A serial killer known as the Zodiac Killer was arrested Wednesday night after a fresh killing launched a nationwide manhunt for the "dangerous" murderer.

Rafael Edward Cruz, 49, was arrested trying to board a flight to Washington D.C. after being identified as the suspect in the murder of 51-year-old Rosalee Mullihand at her home on Sunday, the Dallas Police said.

Photos that Mullihand had on her phone of her and her boyfriend led police to conclude the man actually might be Cruz, having an affair. Police launched a manhunt and released his photos in a BOLO to area law enforcement agencies, along with a warning that he is very dangerous.

Police Chief U. Rene Hall, who is overseeing the new murder investigation, said Mullihand had met a man on Facebook and he had moved in to live with her earlier this month. Surveillance tapes in the Dallas area show the two leaving a restaurant and getting into a car together.

She told her daughter and neighbors that she was going to marry the man on Dec. 15, which was the day she died, a neighbor said. The boyfriend went missing on the day, too.

Later that day his likeness was picked up by Transportation Security Administration personnel at DFW International Airport, who then notified Dallas police and he was arrested without incident shortly before boarding the plane.

Mullihand was found dead with clear tape wrapped around her neck and a cell phone charging cable tied around her ankles, the Dallas Morning News reported. She had died of suffocation, police said.

Mullihands 25-year-old son told the paper that his mother had earlier said the man was a United States Senator and that he had promised to buy her a car if she kept the affair quiet. Police are unsure of the motive, but speculate it was to prevent her from revealing his infidelity.

Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot will be prosecuting the case.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

49 year old murdered people in the 1960s