SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say a serial rapist who died in prison last year has been linked to the killing of a woman in California’s wine country more than 25 years ago.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office says DNA evidence led investigators to identify Jack Bokin as the man who bludgeoned Michelle Veal in July 1996 in unincorporated Sonoma County.

The DNA match was made in January.

Bokin died in December. He had been arrested less than a year after Veal was killed and was serving a 231-year sentence for the serial rape and attempted murder of sex workers.