Suspect held without bail in Philly stranglings

PHILADELPHIA – The transient charged with raping and killing three women in Philadelphia is being held without bail on three counts of murder.

Twenty-two-year-old Antonio Rodriguez wore a white sweat shirt and covered his face for part of his brief arraignment Thursday afternoon.

Police say DNA evidence links Rodriguez with three strangling deaths that gripped the city's Kensington neighborhood since November. He was arrested Monday on an unrelated bench warrant after police said they were seeking him in the deaths of Elaine Goldberg, Nicole Piacentini and Casey Mahoney.

Officials have said the DNA match was delayed by a case backlog and by needed computer upgrades at the DNA testing database.

It was not immediately clear whether Rodriguez had an attorney.