Phoenix police aren't closing the door on the "Baseline Killer" spree despite the arrest Wednesday night of a parolee.
Phoenix resident Mark Goudeau, 42, sits behind bars, but authorities won't say if they've captured the serial killer believed responsible for eight homicides and 23 crimes overall.
Detectives have linked Goudeau through forensic evidence to only one case attributed to the Baseline Killer: the rape of two sisters last Sept. 20 in south Phoenix.
Police and city officials treaded lightly through two morning news conferences Thursday, driving home the message that investigators still have much work to do to solve the rest of the cases.
"I wouldn't make any assumptions about whether or not this individual is or is not responsible for the other crimes at this time because it's just simply a matter of letting the investigation play out," Phoenix police Cmdr. Kim Humphrey said.
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However, Humphrey said Goudeau "definitely resembles" the man portrayed in composite sketches of the Baseline Killer.
"It is possible that there is more than one individual who has been perpetrating these crimes," Humphrey said. "It is also possible that there is one individual that has perpetrated all these crimes."
The cautious mood varies greatly from the early August arrests of Serial Shooter suspects Dale S. Hausner and Samuel J. Dieteman.
"We know we have the individuals involved," Phoenix Assistant Chief Kevin Robinson said after those arrests.
The hunt for the Baseline Killer sent scores of officers into the streets.
Police racked up thousands of hours patrolling and following up on hundreds of tips, Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill said.
On Thursday morning, Goudeau said nothing while making his initial court appearance in Phoenix.
He was booked on four counts of sexual assault and two counts each of aggravated assault, sexual abuse and kidnapping.
Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Sheila Madden ruled he would be held without bond.
"My husband is innocent," Goudeau's wife, Wendy Carr, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "This is a huge miscarriage of justice. And they have an innocent man in prison. This is all a mistake. He shouldn't be in prison for something he didn't do."
According to the Department of Corrections, Goudeau has convictions for three aggravated assaults in 1989 and armed robbery and kidnapping in 1990.
In the first case, he was charged with hitting a woman over the head with a shotgun, trying to force her to snort cocaine, sexually assaulting her, beating her head against a barbell and trying to drown her, according to court records.
He served 13 years on those convictions before being paroled in 2004, eight years before his sentence was to end.
During his parole hearing, Goudeau told the five-member Arizona Board of Executive Clemency that he was a reformed man, according to board documents.
He blamed his problems on a weakness for cocaine — an addiction he beat while in prison.
Clemency board Chairman Duane Belcher Sr. said it's too soon to say whether the decision was a mistake.
The Baseline Killer hasn't struck since June 29, when Carmen Miranda, 37, was kidnapped at a car wash and later killed.
Residents in Goudeau's east Phoenix neighborhood said police had been watching the area since Sunday.
Randy Reyman, who has lived in the area for 30 years, said he saw up to 20 unmarked police vehicles head to Goudeau's address.
They stopped Goudeau at gunpoint while he was in his truck, said Goudeau's nephew, Travis Carro.
