Authorities say retired state police Sgt. Jairo Francisco Franco was taken into custody Wednesday night after a witness identified him as the killer of a gay man on August 19.

Police inspector Paulo Fortunato says Franco is suspected of acting alone in all of the 13 killings.

The murders took place between February 2007 and August 2008 at Paturis Park, a favorite meeting point for gay men.

Fortunato says the suspect, who worked as a private security guard in a supermarket, denies the charges.

He says Franco does not yet have a lawyer.

"We have a credible witness who says he saw Franco pump 12 bullets into a black gay man inside the park,” Fortunato said in a telephone interview.

A second witness said Franco visited the park frequently, "apparently cruising for gay men and victims,” Fortunato said.

Police have dubbed the killer of the 13 men as the "rainbow maniac,” a reference to the gay-pride symbol.

"We are convinced he is the rainbow maniac we have been looking for,” Fortunato said.

The Sao Paulo State Public Safety Department says a police sergeant is suspected of taking part in the killings that occurred between February 2007 and August 2008 at the Paturis Park, a favorite meeting point for gay men.

The department said Wednesday that neither the sergeant nor anyone else has been arrested in the case. It said it would not provide further details to avoid jeopardizing the investigation.

Police chief Paulo Fernando Fortunato tells the O Globo newspaper that 13 gay men were killed there between February 2007 and August 2008.

He says police are not sure whether a single person is responsible. Undercover police are now patrolling the park at night.

Fortunato says he went public with the investigation to help warn people of the danger.

His comments were published Monday. Requests for police comment were not immediately answered.

(Stockholm) A 35-year old man suspected of a number of murders of gay men in Sweden has been sentenced to life in the killing of one of the men.

The accused stood impassively as the sentence was read.

His name, the name of the victim he was convicted of slaying and names of the other victims whose killings remain under investigation have not been published,

“All the victims were, or are, homosexual,” prosecutor Fredrik Ingblad told the court. “He has taken advantage of their sexual preferences and violated them.”

The victim whose murder he was convicted of was 43. Police said he was killed in his apartment in a Stockholm suburb last December.

The accused also was convicted of robbing another gay man two weeks earlier south of the city.

But police believe he also is linked to several other unsolved killings of gay men.

Ingblad said that the killer met his victims on several different internet gay chat sites. He would arrange to meet for sex in the victims’ homes but once there would beat and rob them.

Ingblad said the accused has served time in the past for attacks on gay men.

The 43 year old victim had been dead for several days when his body was found.

He had been bound and stabbed.

A computer was seized from the home of the accused. Police said it contained a large number of names which are still being compared to lists of unsolved murders and other violent crimes.