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Late Author's Book On Golden State Killer Seen In New Light Following Arrest

(AP) -- Comedian Patton Oswalt is crediting his late wife for her work in pursuit of the so-called Golden State Killer.

Michelle McNamara had made it her mission to find the person responsible for at least 12 murders and 51 rapes throughout California in the 1970s and 80s.

"Young Adult" World Premiere
Patton Oswalt and Michelle McNamara attend the "Young Adult" world premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre on December 8, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

In an Instagram video on Wednesday, Oswalt says: "You did it, Michelle."

McNamara died in her sleep at the age of 46 in April 2016 before she could finish the book she was writing about the case.

Oswalt helped finish the book, titled "I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer," and it became a No. 1 New York Times best-seller.

On Wednesday, authorities said a DNA match led them to arrest Joseph James DeAngelo, a 72-year-old former police officer, as a suspect.

Police say the book had no information that "directly led to the apprehension."

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