SAN DIEGO -- A convicted rapist accused of molesting and killing two South Bay boys nearly nine years ago must stand trial on murder charges that could carry the death penalty, a judge ruled Monday.

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Judge: Enough Evidence For Trial

Scott Thomas Erskine, 39, will be back in court Feb. 26 for arraignment and to get a trial date.

After a preliminary hearing, Superior Court Judge Gale Kaneshiro found there was enough evidence for Erskine to stand trial for the strangulation deaths of Jonathan Sellers, 9, and Charlie Keever, 13.

A decision on whether the defendant will face the death penalty if convicted will be made later.

The boys disappeared March 27, 1993 while riding their bicycles following a Saturday lunch at a fast-food restaurant in the Palm City district of southern San Diego.

Two days later, their bodies were found on the banks of the Otay River in an open, brushy area near the end of Saturn Boulevard.

Erskine, who lived in the South Bay area at the time, was serving a 70-year sentence for rape when he was identified last March through advanced DNA testing as the alleged killer of the boys.

The probability of a person randomly matching the perpetrator's DNA profile is about 1 in 600 billion, authorities said earlier.

Erskine was in prison for raping a woman in San Diego seven months after the boys' killings when he was charged with two counts of murder and special circumstance allegations of torture, sexual assault and multiple murders.