Authorities today charged Fitzhugh Newton, 50, with raping a woman twice and then killing her early on Feb. 26 on Columbia Road.

NewtonAuthorities found the body of the woman, 48, dumped in the back of a delivery truck in a parking lot at 390 Columbia Rd.

Newton, convicted of assault with intent to commit rape in 1979, was already in the South Bay jail on unrelated charges, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office and Boston Police. DA Dan Conley said a DNA sample from the scene was linked to Newton via a DNA database:

We hope that the charges that were issued today - while only the beginning of a process to hold this alleged suspect accountable for these heinous crimes - will allow the victim's family and the public to breathe easier knowing that he is not on the street.

Officials declined to release the victim's name - or exact cause of death beyond "trauma" - until after they notify her family members of the arrest.