Denise Maney, 32, was murdered on March 11, 1995, in the Palm Springs area of Riverside County, California. Marine who was on vacation from Illinois, picked Maney up, drove her to a secluded desert location, forced her to disrobe, tied her hands behind her back, sexually assaulted her, stabbed her multiple times in the chest, and shot her once in the head before leaving her body in the desert.

Urdiales is reported to have had a history of violent crimes against women across Southern California between 1986 and 1995, with other victims identified in Orange, Riverside, and San Diego counties. He was arrested in Indiana in November 1996 after officers found an unauthorized firearm; ballistics later linked that weapon to other murders, and Urdiales subsequently confessed to the California killings, including Maney’s.