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.

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.

All three victims were sex workers and all died by strangulation, said District Attorney Erik Nasarenko in a news conference Thursday. Prosecutors believe Alexander initially picked each of the women up for sexual activity. Although detectives saw similarities among the crimes, the cases went cold.