Serial killer ex-Marine convicted of murdering three women in Illinois in 2001 is now found guilty of killing FIVE more women in California two decades ago

  • A former Marine convicted of killing three women in Illinois was found guilty of killing five women in California
  • Andrew Urdiales committed the crimes more than two decades ago while stationed in California
  • His youngest victim was 18 years old, authorities said 
  • Andrew Urdiales faces the death penalty in the California murders 
  • He is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the Illinois killings  

A former Marine convicted of killing three women in Illinois was found guilty Wednesday for the murder of five women in southern California more than two decades ago.    

Orange County jurors convicted Andrew Urdiales of five counts of murder with enhancements for attacking a volunteer usher after a college piano concert and picking up four prostitutes, driving them to remote or deserted areas, having sex with them and killing them.

The verdict raises to eight the number of women killed by the 53-year-old ex-Marine.

Urdiales was previously convicted of killing three women in Illinois in 2002 and 2004. He was given a death sentence that was commuted to life without parole after Illinois barred the death penalty.

Andrew Urdiales, a former Marine, was convicted for killing five women in California more than two decades ago

Andrew Urdiales, a former Marine, was convicted for killing five women in California more than two decades ago

Urdiales was previously convicted of killing three women in Illinois  

Urdiales was previously convicted of killing three women in Illinois  

He was extradited to California in 2011 to stand trial in the murders of five women in Riverside, Orange and San Diego counties between 1986 and 1995. For these killings, California prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

The penalty phase of the trial will begin Thursday for jurors to evaluate whether to recommend a death sentence for Urdiales or life without parole.

Charles Erwin, the father of victim Tammie Erwin, said he supports Urdiales getting the death penalty. 

Tammie Erwin was found dead in Riverside County on April 15, 1989. The 18-year-old was the youngest of the victims. 

According to NWI.com, Urdiales told California police in a taped-confession that he picked Erwin up in Palm Springs while she was working as a prostitute and he was stationed at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms. He said he shot the teen multiple times in the head after they had sex.     

Tammie Erwin
Robin Brandley

 Tammie Erwin (left) and Robin Brandley were among the victims killed while Urdiales was living in California 

Mary Ann Wells
Lynn Huber

Mary Ann Wells (left) and Lynn Huber were also killed. Wells was killed in California and Huber was killed in Illinois 

Julie McGhee
Laura Uylaki

Julie McGhee (left) and Laura Uylaki were also victims. McGhee was killed in California and Uylaki was found murdered in Illinois 

'Because of the nature of his crimes, the way he did the girls, like they were just trash, just throw them away,' Charles Erwin said about the possibility of Urdiales getting the death penalty, the outlet reports. 

Jack Reilley, the father of of victim Robbin Brandley, told ABC7 that he has been waiting for this day for 32 years. His daughter was 23 years old when she was killed by Urdiales as she was leaving a jazz piano concert in 1986 at an Orange County community college.    

'I've never hated anyone before, ever in my life, but, boy, sitting there looking at him, I felt pure hate,' Jack Reilley said. 

His other victims included Mary Ann Wells, who was found dead in San Diego and Julie McGhee and Denise Maney who were found in the desert areas of Riverside County.  

Denise Maney
Cassandra Corum

Denise Maney (left) and Cassandra Corum were also killed by the fomer Marine. Maney was killed in California and Corum was killed in Illinois 

 Jennifer Asbenson was the only victim who survived the attack

 Jennifer Asbenson was the only victim who survived the attack

Police said the victims had been working as prostitutes. The three women in Illinois he was previously convicted of killing were also prostitutes, authorities said. They were identified as Cassandra Corum, Laura Uylaki and Lynn Huber. 

He was also accused of attacking Jennifer Asbenson, who survived.  

Authorities said Urdiales, who moved to Southern California in 1984 as a 19-year-old Marine, killed four of the women while in the military and the fifth while vacationing in Palm Springs in 1995.

The California murders went unsolved for more than a decade until Urdiales was arrested after he returned home to Illinois.

Authorities stopped Urdiales in 1996 and found a weapon in his truck that he wasn't allowed to carry, prosecutors said. The next year, authorities matched the weapon to the one used to kill the Illinois women and arrested him for those murders.  

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