Man charged with murder in connection with 3 strangulation deaths in Southern California in 1977

(CNN) — A Mississippi man authorities are calling a “suspected serial killer” has been charged in connection with the 1977 strangulation deaths of three women in Southern California, prosecutors in California said Wednesday.

Warren Luther Alexander, 73, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and also faces special allegations of multiple murders, according to a news release from the Ventura County district attorney’s office. He was extradited on Tuesday from Surry County, North Carolina, where he was awaiting prosecution in connection with a 1992 homicide, according to the release.

Alexander made his first appearance in Ventura County Superior Court Wednesday, but his arraignment was continued to August 21. He is being held without bail, according to the DA’s office.

Alexander is being represented by the Ventura County Public Defender’s Office, but the case has not been assigned and the office had no comment Wednesday, Chief Deputy Public Defender Ayala Benefraim told CNN.

In February 2023, the cold case unit of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department started re-examining the killings of Kimberly Carol Fritz, 18, Velvet Ann Sanchez, 31, and Lorraine Ann Rodriguez, 21, officials said. Autopsies for all three deaths at the time revealed the victims died by strangulation.

“DNA evidence was collected from the crime scenes and the victims,” the DA’s office said in the release without elaborating.

The killings happened over the span of seven months in three different jurisdictions of Ventura County, according to the news release.

Authorities have not revealed what led them to identify Alexander as a suspect, but a news conference will be held Thursday, during which photos and videos of Alexander will be provided, the news release said.

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