LOS ANGELES, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- California prosecutors will pursue charges against a former Marine accused of killing five Californian women before moving back to his home state of Illinois, sources close to the case said on Wednesday.
Andrew Urdiales, 45, is charged with killing five women in Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties in Southern California between 1986 and 1995. He is eligible for the death penalty in California but is already on death row in Illinois for killing three other women.
His arrest in Illinois and DNA gathered in those cases led to the charges in California, according to Orange County prosecutors.
Orange County will lead the prosecution because much of the forensics work was done here, said Howard Gundy, the senior deputy district attorney leading the case.
"Nobody was really a glory hound on this," Gundy said. "We've always just wanted to get it done."
Gundy credited "good old-fashioned police work" for Urdiales' arrest.
The most incriminating evidence, though, came from his alleged confession, Gundy said. "What really got him was his admission. He wanted to brag about all the murders he committed." he said.
Urdiales was arrested in Hammond, Indiana, after police saw him in his truck in an area known for prostitution.
A search of his vehicle yielded a gun, which he wasn't allowed to carry. That turned out to be a big break because investigators in Illinois had it tested for ballistics and found that it was used to kill three of his victims, Gundy said.
Police arrested him on his job where he worked as a security guard, Gundy said.
Investigators believe there aren't any more victims because Uriales was so eager to brag about what he had done, Gundy added.
Urdiales often had sex more than once with his victims before he killed them, Gundy said.
It's unclear just when Orange County prosecutors will bring him to California to face charges, Gundy said. But it could be in about a year once Illinois prosecutors are finished with their cases against him, he added.
