'Kensington strangler' Antonio Rodriguez had sex with dead victims
It was reported in January that during his interrogation Rodriguez said he didn't set out to kill the women and that he knew he had to stop.
Quoting police sources, The Philadelphia Inquirer said Rodriguez wanted to have 'rough fantasy sex,' choking the women until they were unconscious, but he did not desire to kill them.
Detectives who testified on Tuesday say Rodriguez told them he used a condom in the attack on victim Casey Mahoney because he knew police were looking for a serial strangler.
All three victims were sexually assaulted and strangled in the Kensington neighbourhood, known for its drugs and prostitution, between November 3 and December 15 of last year.
The three women were described 'as struggling with addiction' and 'sometimes worked the streets'.
Prosecutors say all three women tried to fight off their attacker.
Rodriguez was picked up after a member of the public rang police with a tip off following a $37,000 reward offer to catch the 'Kensington Strangler'.
At the time, Philadelphia police captain James Clark said: 'The people of the Kensington area can breathe easy and rest knowing that we have the killer off the streets.'
It is understood that the tipster would now receive the $37,000 reward offered to the public for information leading to the suspect's arrest.
Crime scene: Police cordon off an alley in the Kensington area of Philadelphia after an attack. Experts say the attacks were going to continue until a suspect was caught
Police have said that there is a DNA link to these three murders but there have been other murders and sexual assaults in the area that may also be linked to the case.
Four women have survived severe beatings and sexually assaults, and two of the survivors say they were choked to the point of losing consciousness.
Their evidence may be crucial to any extended police case.
The FBI had been called in to help with the case, and their behavioural analysis unit at Quantico had been drafted in.
Talking about the killer, forensic criminal psychiatrist Clarence Watson said: 'It could be a person who has frustrated interactions with females, hostility towards females... they're feeling out of control in their lives and now they need to regain some sense of control, regain some sense of self-esteem or repair their ego in some way and they go out and act.'
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