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Killer extradited to Calif. to stand trial for 5 murders
FILE: This undated file photo provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections shows serial killer Andrew Urdiales. On March 9, 2011, Urdiales had his death sentence commuted for the second time to life in prison after Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation abolishing the state's death penalty. California officials began seeking the extradition of Urdiales within hours after Quinn commuted his sentence. A California grand jury indicted Urdiales in 2009 in the murders of five women there.
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AP Photo/Illinois Department of Corrections, File
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Killer extradited to Calif. to stand trial for 5 murders
Killer extradited to Calif. to stand trial for 5 murders
A convicted serial killer will return to California this week to stand trial in the murders of five women. Authorities expect the man to arrive in the Southland on Thursday.
Juries in Illinois convicted former U.S. Marine Andrew Urdiales of three murders in Illinois — and sentenced him to die for two of them.
Illinois commuted his death sentences to life in prison when the state banned the death penalty.
Prosecutors in Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties accuse Urdiales of killing four other women while he was stationed at various military bases between 1986 and 1995. The first of those murders claimed the life of a Saddleback College student.
The cases will be consolidated and tried in Orange County.
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