Horace Van Vaultz Jr. (born May 21, 1955) is an American serial killer.

He was arrested on November 15, 2019, and charged with the 1981 murder of Selena Keough, 20, in Montclair, California, and the 1986 murder of Mary Duggan, 22, in Burbank, California. The cases had gone unsolved for decades until a DNA breakthrough exposed his involvement. The same DNA also proved Vaultz's responsibility in the 1986 murder of Janna Rowe, 25, in Ventura, California, a murder he was originally acquitted for in 1988.

Horace Van Vaultz

A search of Vaultz's house in Bakersfield revealed a collection of numerous photographs of young women and teenage girls, some of which police suspect were murdered by Vaultz. Two of the women in the photographs have been identified and confirmed to be still alive.

Horace Van Vaultz

Vaultz was found guilty on two counts of first degree murder on August 18, 2022. He was subsequently sentenced to two consecutive terms of life in prison without parole on September 19, 2022. Vaultz maintains he is innocent.

Horace Van Vaultz

See also

List of serial killers in the United States

References

1955 births

1981 murders in the United States

1986 murders in the United States

20th-century American criminals

American male criminals

American people convicted of murder

American people convicted of sexual assault

American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment

American rapists

American serial killers

Criminals from California

Criminals from Los Angeles

Living people

People acquitted of murder

People convicted of murder by California

People from Burbank, California

Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California

Serial killers from California

Violence against women in the United States