MAP: Map of crime trail  ALSO: Mutual trust helped Texas Ranger get his man Criminal record of Resendez-Ramirez VIDEO CNN's Charles Zewe reports on the man suspected of being the railway killer Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

July 14, 1999
Web posted at: 9:36 a.m. EDT (1336 GMT)

In this story: Blood sample Suspect 'cooperative' Surrender agreement RELATED STORIES, SITES

HOUSTON (CNN) -- One day after his family-negotiated surrender, a Mexican drifter suspected of murdering at least eight people while crisscrossing the United States by freight train, faced a court appearance Wednesday in Houston.

Rafael Resendez-Ramirez -- whose real name is Angel Leoncio Reyes Resendis -- was due to be arraigned on a burglary charge linked to one of the killings, but Texas prosecutors hope to use DNA evidence from a blood sample to help build a death penalty case against him.

At an overnight hearing on the burglary case, the suspect attempted to enter a guilty plea, but the judge would not allow it since Resendez-Ramirez was not represented by an attorney and the charge had not been formally filed.

In Texas, a charge of capital murder can only be filed when there is evidence that a murder occurred during the commission of a select group of felonies. Burglary is included in that group.

Investigators say he is linked to the murders by DNA, fingerprints and jewelry and other items stolen from the victims, all of whom lived near railroad tracks.

"If his blood produces DNA that matches that found at the crime scene, I'd say the chances are 100 percent that it will go up to capital murder," Harris County Assistant District Attorney Ted Harris told reporters Tuesday.

Under Texas law, anybody convicted of capital murder faces either execution or life imprisonment.

The suspected serial killer surrendered to Carter

Within hours of his surrender near El Paso on Tuesday, Resendez-Ramirez, 39, was flown to Houston, where authorities interrogated him for nearly eight hours about the 1998 slayings of two area women: Noemi Dominguez, a school teacher, and Dr. Claudia Benton, a Rice University professor.

Sources told CNN he was "cooperative in supplying details."

The burglary Resendez-Ramirez is charged with is related to Benton's death.

He is suspected of committing five murders in Texas, two in Illinois and one in Kentucky, and is wanted for questioning in as many as 14 other killings, from Miami to Detroit and Phoenix, sources have told CNN.

"He'll be tried first in Harris County, believe me," said Wilson.

Most of Resendez-Ramirez's alleged victims were bludgeoned to death. Investigators have said they have no idea what motivated the killings.

The surrender of Resendez-Ramirez -- arranged by family members in contact with Texas Ranger Drew Carter -- capped a massive international manhunt by thousands of investigators and railroad authorities.

The suspect, who was placed on the FBI's "10 Most Wanted" list of suspects last month, crossed a bridge over the Rio Grande from Mexico to El Paso, Texas, and surrendered to Carter, who was backed by federal agents.

After turning himself in, the slightly built, clean-shaven suspect was made a brief court appearance in El Paso on the burglary charge before being flown to Houston.

The surrender agreement included assurances of family visits, a psychological evaluation and promises that he would be safe in jail, authorities said.

The agreement does not shield him from the death penalty. Mexico has refused to return suspects to countries where they may face a death penalty, which Mexico does not have.

Texas has executed more people -- 180 -- than any other state since the death penalty was declared constitutional in 1976. Harris County prosecutors have sent more killers to death row than any other county in the nation.

Correspondents Charles Zewe and Jennifer Auther contributed to this report