SAN DIEGO -- A convicted rapist will face the death penalty if found guilty of molesting and strangling two South Bay boys nine years ago, a prosecutor told a judge Tuesday.

Scott Thomas Erskine, 39 (pictured, left), is accused of the March 27, 1993, deaths of Jonathan Sellers, 9, and Charlie Keever, 13.

"We announced that we're seeking the death penalty," said Deputy District Attorney Valerie Summers.

Superior Court Judge Peter Deddeh set an April 17 trial date and assigned the case to Judge Kenneth So. Attorneys are expected to ask for more time to prepare for trial at a hearing Monday.

Deddeh's courtroom had also been the scene of accused Danielle van Dam killer David Westerfield's arraignment Tuesday. That case will also rely heavily on DNA evidence.

The two victims disappeared 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 at the time, was serving a 70-year sentence for rape when he was identified a year ago 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.

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.