22-year-old Antonio Rodriguez was ordered to be held for trial on Wednesday on three counts each of murder, rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and abuse of a corpse. Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty in this case.
Police say Rodriguez confessed to the crimes and, in court on Wednesday, the graphic details of those confessions were revealed.
He allegedly told police he didn't know the names of the victims, but that he picked them up near Kensington Avenue for sex and took them to nearby vacant lots and buildings.
The statements detail the choking of the women and how he supposedly continued to engage in sex even after he believed the victims were either unconscious or dead.
Rodriguez was arrested in January on an unrelated bench warrant after police said they were seeking him in the deaths of Elaine Goldberg, Nicole Piacentini and Casey Mahoney.
All were in their 20s and had struggled with drug addiction. Their bodies were found between early November and mid-December in vacant lots in the Kensington section of the city.
Detectives who testified Wednesday say Rodriguez told them he used a condom in the attack on Mahoney because he knew police were looking for a serial strangler.
Rodriguez sat quietly at the defense table on Wednesday, rocking back and forth, as detectives read three confessions.
Police say Rodriguez is extremely soft-spoken, with others describing him as "meek," in contrast to the horrific crimes with which he is charged.
Rodriguez did not speak during the hearing.
His next court date is set for March 2nd.
