Paul Holes 鈥90, a retired cold case investigator, led the DNA matching effort that connected the dots in one of California鈥檚 most notorious crime sprees. His use of genealogy data helped track down the suspected Golden State Killer. An alleged culprit, arrested in April, now faces 13 murder counts, including several rapes, and 13 felony counts of kidnapping to commit robbery. Holes started digging into the case in 1994 as a criminalist with the Contra Costa County Sheriff鈥檚 office. 鈥淚t seemed like the ultimate challenge,鈥 he said. His possession of the offender鈥檚 DNA fueled his conviction that he could solve the crime. 鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 a question as to whether or not there would be trouble identifying the right guy,鈥 Holes said. 鈥淲e just had to find the right guy.鈥 Over the years, Holes graduated from the police academy, acquired detective skills and fostered a longtime interest in forensic pathology. He investigated countless serial predators, homicides, officer-involved shootings and drug labs. He retired in March from the Contra Costa District Attorney鈥檚 Office after almost 30 years in law enforcement. His work gave him the opportunity to be interviewed on camera, and he discovered he鈥檚 comfortable on screen. He now has a development deal with true-crime cable channel Oxygen Media to investigate and tell crime stories.