Philadelphia Inquirer
Friday, May 24, 2002

Graves ordered held without bail

By Jacqueline Soteropoulos,
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Troy Graves, the man accused of being the Center City rapist, was ordered held without bail today in Philadelphia on charges he murdered Wharton graduate student Shannon Schieber and raped five other women between 1997 and 1999.

Graves, who was being held at police headquarters, appeared on video monitors in Arraignment Court in the city's Criminal Justice Center for the brief afternoon hearing. Bail Commissioner Jim O'Brien scheduled a preliminary hearing for Tuesday.

Graves, a 30-year-old Air Force enlisted man, was arrested in Colorado last month and pleaded guilty on May 17 to five attacks in Fort Collins, Colo. He was sentenced to life in prison there.

Graves was returned to Philadelphia last night, and prosecutors here are working to strike a similar deal, sparing him from the death penalty.

A member of the Defender's Association death penalty unit was formally appointed today to represent Graves, who faces a long list of charges including Schieber's murder and multiple counts of rape, assault, burglary and trespass.