PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A convicted sex offender accused in the Portland deaths of a California teen and a woman who had befriended him has pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated murder.
On Friday, 40-year-old Mark Beebout admitted he killed a 15-year-old San Diego girl whose body was found in a Portland park and a 32-year-old woman found dead in her Portland apartment.
The Oregonian reports that Beebout will be sentenced March 14 to two consecutive life terms without parole.
Both victims were strangled.
It took police four months to identify the body of Mayra Sophia Cruz Rodriguez of San Diego. Homicide detectives learned that the teen had been visiting relatives in Vancouver, Wash., when she was reported as a runaway in mid-June. Her body was found in a park on June 26.
Victim Nikayla Powell had befriended Beebout after meeting him at a Portland homeless ministry where she volunteered. She reportedly let him stay at her apartment, where her body was found July 10.
U.S. marshals arrested Beebout on July 19 in Seattle.
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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
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