NOW IT'S OUR TURN.

Troy Graves, the accused "Center City Rapist," pleaded guilty in Colorado yesterday to a series of attacks on women there.

He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Now, he'll be coming back to Philadelphia to face rape and murder charges here.

Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham said last night that she still planned to seek the death penalty for Graves in the murder of Penn grad student Shannon Schieber in May 1998.

But Graves' public defender in Fort Collins, Colo., Kathryn Hay, said Graves pleaded guilty with the understanding that prosecutors in Philadelphia wouldn't seek the death penalty.

And according to one source familiar with the case, a deal is now in the works for Graves to plead guilty to killing Schieber and sexually assaulting five other women in Philadelphia.

In exchange for those guilty pleas, the Philadelphia DA's office would not seek the death penalty, the source said.

Graves' public defender in Philadelphia, Dan Stevenson, recently went to Colorado, where he met with Graves and was instrumental in brokering yesterday's guilty plea, the source said.

And as early as next week, the source said, Stevenson will return to Colorado with members of the Philadelphia DA's office to work out the deal with Graves.

Stevenson had no comment yesterday.

Despite the guilty plea in the Colorado cases, Abraham insisted yesterday that her office had not been part of any agreement there.

"I don't tell Colorado officials what to say, and they don't tell me what to say," she told reporters.

However, asked whether she would be willing to drop the death penalty in exchange for a guilty plea, Abraham declined comment.

If Philadelphia authorities do elect to seek the death penalty, Graves can withdraw his guilty plea in Colorado, Hay said. Under yesterday's plea agreement, Graves will serve his life term in that state, rather than Pennsylvania.

The Schieber family strongly opposes the death penalty for Graves, saying they'd prefer that he get a life sentence.

"I don't think the death penalty brings any resolution to anything," Schieber's mother, Vicki, said yesterday. "I know it's not going to solve anything for me."

She said that she and her husband were relieved by Graves' guilty plea, because it could mean there will also be a guilty plea in their daughter's murder.

"The worst-case scenario is having to relive this [by] sitting though a long trial," she said. A guilty plea would mean that "nobody has to go through a long, painful recounting of what happened."

Philadelphia police say DNA evidence proves that Graves murdered Schieber and sexually assaulted five other women in Philadelphia from 1997 to 1999.

Graves, 30, pleaded guilty yesterday to six attacks on women near the Colorado State University campus from May to August 2001.

The life sentence was imposed for a kidnapping that occurred in one of those attacks. Once proceedings in Philadelphia are complete, Graves will be returned to Colorado for sentencing on seven other charges related to the attacks, Fort Collins District Attorney Stuart VanMeveren said in a statement.

Graves made a brief statement in which he apologized to the victims and the community.

"I understand it's unlikely that a single word will perform any miracle healing," said Graves, "but please understand that these feelings are from my heart, and let that be a beginning."

Graves also apologized to those he's served with in the Air Force, as well as to his family, friends, and others "that helped me realize I'm still a human being and capable of some good."

Graves, an airman stationed at the nearby F.E. Warren Air Force Base, lived in Fort Collins with his wife, the former Amy Wade. They were married in March 2001.