Ohio man held on $5m bond in 2 murders, 3 rapes

A 49-year-old Ohio man pleaded not guilty Monday to two killings that occurred nearly two decades ago, Cleveland officials say. Elias Acevedo is charged in the deaths of Christina Adkins, who was 18 and five months pregnant when she disappeared in 1995, and neighbor Pamela Pemberton, 30, in 1994, WJW-TV, Cleveland, reported. The judge set bond at $5 million. Prosecutors had requested $1 million bond for each of the murder charges and the alleged rapes of three other women. Acevedo's attorney had requested a "reasonable" bond. Prosecutors announced a 293-count indictment against Acevedo Thursday. Adkins' remains were positively identified Friday. They were found last week in a pipe near an interstate interchange. Paul Calderon, a high school friend of Adkins, said Friday Acevedo is related to someone Adkins was dating at the time of her disappearance and she may have known him. Adkins disappeared in January 1995, about three months after Pemberton was found slain in a vacant lot, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported. At the time of his arrest, Acevedo was in jail on charges he raped a woman in 1993. Acevedo was classified as a sex offender after he convicted of a 2003 sexual battery.