ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- An accused serial killer already charged in the deaths of nine women will be indicted Jan. 19 for the murders of two prostitutes, the Monroe County district attorney said Friday.
June Cicero, 34, and Maria Welch, 22, will be added to the list of women law enforcement officials are accusing Arthur Shawcross -- a convicted arsonist and child killer -- of slaying, District Attorney Howard Relin said.
Cicero's body was spotted by a State Police helicopter in a culvert in the Northampton Park area 10 miles west of Rochester Jan 3. Minutes later troopers saw Shawcross's car leaving the crime scene.
Soon after his arrest Jan. 4, Shawcross, 44, provided information that led police to the body of Welch in the town of Greece near Lake Ontario, sources said.
Welch and Cicero were prostitutes, as were most of the nine women whose deaths Shawcross is now charged with.
Although the deaths of five other women remain unsolved, law-enforcement officials said they do not believe they are related to the serial killings. However, the suburban Brighton Police Department wants to question Shawcross about the August 1989 strangulation of Gail DeRyke, 47, who had never been listed among the 16 missing women.
Rochester police investigators met last week in New Castle, Pa., with members of the Pennsylvania State Police and police from the Youngstown, Ohio, area.
Youngstown police said they were looking for a connection to the murders of five women in their community over the last six months. Pennsylvania State Police would not comment on the meeting.
'It looks like we've got the same situation here -- prostitutes picked up and killed -- and we aren't that far away,' Hubbard Police Chief Howard Bradley said. The town of Hubbard is near Youngstown.
Almost three weeks has passed since the last Rochester woman was reportedmissing. In the weeks before Shawcross's arrest women who were later found dead were being reported missing almost on a weekly basis.
A wave of relief swept over the Rochester-area after law-enforcement officials took advantage of a lucky break in cracking the case, one of the biggest crime cases in state history, officials said.
'The big break came with the State Police helicopter (spotting Shawcross),' said Maj. Salvatore Valvo, State Police Troop E commander in Canandaigua. 'We couldn't have asked for anything better.'
Prostitutes -- a prime target of the serial killer -- have returned to ply their trade in the city's streets and police are conducting 'sweeps' to discourage the illicit activity.
