Crime & Safety

Serial Killer Urdiales to be Sent to Orange County

A man accused of stabbing Saddleback College student Robbin Brandley to death in the 80s may receive the death penalty if convicted.

The man accused of stabbing a student to death in the 1980s is being brought back to Orange County.

Convicted serial killer Andrew Urdiales left an Illinois prison Monday in the custody of U.S. Marshals, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. He is expected to arrive in San Bernardino County Thursday, and later be brought to Orange County Jail.

The extradition means Urdiales can now stand trial in California for the death of Robbin Brandley and four other women killed in California between 1986 and 1995. It also means he could face the death penalty.

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On Jan. 18, 1986, Brandley, a 23-year-old volunteer usher for the night at a college jazz piano concert, in a Saddleback College parking lot.

"That evening, Urdiales is accused of driving to the college from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton armed with a 6-inch blade hunting knife with the intent to murder a random victim," according to a statement from the D.A.'s office.

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Urdiales is accused of four other murders in California.

The D.A.'s office announced plans to extradite Urdiales in 2009. Urdiales was charged on Aug. 5, 2009, with murder by the D.A.'s office.

Urdiales was of three other murders. He was given the death sentences for all three killings, two of which the governor commuted to life in prison.

All three were reduced to life sentences in March when Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn abolished the death penalty in that state.


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