BEN LOMOND, Calif. -- The imprisoned former manager of a Ben Lomond store where Joanna "Asha" Veil worked when she vanished in 2006 has been arrested for her murder and that of her unborn child, authorities announced Wednesday.

According to the Santa Cruz County jail website, Michael Patrick McClish, 38, was arrested at 11:30 a.m. and booked into the facility. Sheriff's detectives had named McClish -- who was a manager at the market when Veil worked there -- as a suspect in her killing in February 2007. In an unrelated case, McClish, 39, was convicted of a rape and sodomy in July and in September and was serving an 18-years-to-life in prison sentence.

Lt. Phil Wowak said that the investigation found that "Asha and McClish had both a professional and personal relationship." However, authorities also said at a Wednesday afternoon news conference that the father of the baby was Veil's estranged husband Richard Veil.

Santa Cruz County District Attorney Bob Lee said his office would make the decision about whether to seek the death penalty "in the next few months." He also held out the possibility that he would try the case himself.

Veil, a Polish immigrant who arrived in the United States in 2004, was six-and-a-half-months pregnant when she disappeared after leaving her job at the Ben Lomond Market in September 2006.

Her body was found by a woman walking her dog in "an extremely rural and heavily wooded" area off Love Creek Road in Ben Lomond five days after she vanished.

While Santa Cruz authorities announced the arrest, they did not release the suspect's name. His name and details of how the suspect was tracked down was expected to be revealed at a Wednesday afternoon news conference.

Richard Veil said authorities called him Tuesday to inform him of the arrest, but said no more.

"It's such a horrible thing," he said, "I really appreciate their hard work and their efforts. I think they did a really good job."

At the time of Veil's disappearance, Barbara Loessler, a fellow employee at the market, said the slain woman had worked as a cashier at the market for about a year and was known to be "very reliable." Therefore, when she missed work for two straight days, market personnel became concerned about her welfare and called police.

"She was one of those genuinely nice people," Loessler said.

Police found Veil's car abandoned about a quarter-mile from the market and a short distance from her home.