SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Northern California judge has approved prosecutors’ request to take more DNA samples from a man charged with being the infamous “Golden State Killer.”

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Steve White also told prosecutors on Thursday to informally decide who is empowered to consider defense attorneys’ offer have Joseph James DeAngelo plead guilty in exchange for avoiding the death penalty. So far, prosecutors have not wavered from their intent to seek DeAngelo’s execution if he is convicted.

The 74-year-old former police officer is suspected of at least 13 murders and more than 50 rapes in the 1970s and 1980s.