GUILTY OK - Virginia Kegans, 17, raped & murdered, Oklahoma City, 25 Oct 1976

Prosecutors are considering whether to seek the death penalty for a man ordered Wednesday to face trial in a 35-year-old slaying.

John Benjamin Kennedy, 56, is accused of killing Virginia Grace Kegans on Oct. 25, 1976.

He was charged with her killing last year after DNA evidence linking him to the body was obtained from a 1978 case. Kennedy is serving a life sentence in that case for strangling and mutilating a 15-year-old prostitute.
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Kegans, a 17-year-old Oklahoma City waitress, was shot in the head and her throat was cut, authorities said. She left a boyfriend's apartment in Norman at 4 a.m., Oct. 25, 1976, to hitchhike back to Oklahoma City, an investigator reported.
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On Friday, accused killer John Benjamin Kennedy pleaded guilty to killing 17-year-old Virginia Kegan, and was sentenced to life in prison...

Years passed and the case went cold until 2010, when Kennedy became the number one suspect. Now the family knows what truly happened to their daughter.

"We didn't know back then that she was raped," said Patti Stephens. "And now we find out she was. It's a blessing in disguise in a way. The DNA is how they linked Kennedy to killing her."

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