Troy Graves, 29, an airman stationed in Wyoming, was arrested in Colorado last week on charges that he committed seven sexual assaults near Colorado State University.

Philadelphia authorities say Graves' DNA links him to five sexual attacks in the city, and the May 7, 1998, murder of Wharton School student Shannon Schieber, 23.

Also yesterday, a group of news outlets in Colorado in an effort to give the suspected nasty deeds of Graves the media exposure they deserve, banned together to ask a judge to remove a gag order. Killing the order would give reporters greater access to information about the investigation and the judicial proceedings that will lead to his prosecution.

Judge Terence Gilmore of Fort Collins, Colo., will consider the requests to lift the gag order Thursday.

Graves, who had appeared at previous court proceedings via closed-circuit TV, was in shackles yesterday when he waived his right to a preliminary hearing. He is charged with 27 counts including sexual assault, kidnapping, burglary and robbery.

He is scheduled to appear in court again this week regarding the Philadelphia charges.

The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office said Gov. Schweiker will ask Colorado Gov. Bill Owens to extradite the suspect to Philadelphia on the grounds that the murder case should take precedence over the Colorado charges.

All Fort Collins police have said is that DNA samples showed the Colorado and Philadelphia attacks had been committed by the same person. They compiled a list of men who had moved to their area from Philadelphia within the time frame of the attacks.

The Coloradoan newspaper of Fort Collins filed a motion last week asking that the gag order be removed.

KUSA-TV of Denver, the Denver Post, the Rocky Mountain News and the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle also filed motions related to coverage of the case, division clerk Ellen Ring said. *