[originaltext]News Item One　　A confessed serial killer set to be released from

News Item One
　　A confessed serial killer set to be released from a Texas prison in less than two years agreed Wednesday to be transported to Michigan to face a murder charge for a 1979 slaying.
　　State District Judge William McAdams said he would allow Coral Eugene Watts to first finish medical treatment he was scheduled to receive in Texas.
　　Walker County District Attorney David Weeks said Watts could complete the treatment and be returned to Michigan within days.
　　In 1982, Watts admitted he killed 13 women. But he received immunity for the slayings and went to prison for burglary with intent to commit murder.  Prosecutors said they were short on hard evidence and intent on closing the open murder cases.
　　At the time, they and the judge also thought a 60-year prison term would keep Watts behind bars until he was in his 80s. But mandatory release laws require Watts’ discharge on May 8, 2006, when he will be 52.
　　Michigan and Texas authorities have worked for months to keep Watts behind bars.  In March, the Michigan attorney general announced a murder charge had been filed against Watts for the 1979 killing of Helen Dutcher in a Detroit suburb.  The charge was prompted by a witness who surfaced more than two decades later.