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Nanny Murder Suspect Ruled Competent For Rape Trial

Man Accused In Nanny's Death Also Charged In 14-Year-Old's Rape

POSTED: Tuesday, May 31, 2005

A man accused of killing a South Florida nanny has been found competent to stand trial in the rape of a 14-year-old Coral Springs girl.

Jerry Wiggins is accused of raping the 14-year-old months before he allegedly kidnapped, raped and murdered nanny Monica Rivera-Veldizen.

No date has been set for the trial on the sexual battery and lewd and lascivious behavior charges. Wiggins has entered a not guilty plea and was assigned a public defender.

There is no word from Palm Beach County on when he will be moved there to face charges in Rivera-Veldizen's murder.

Wiggins was arrested in January in the rape of a Charlotte, N.C., woman. The woman picked Wiggins, whom she knew as "Jay," out of a lineup.

Investigators said DNA from the Charlotte rape matched DNA in the murder of Rivera-Veldizen. She disappeared from a Boca Raton Publix supermarket on West Palmetto Park Road Jan. 2, 2004. Her body was found Jan. 5 in bushes a short distance from the home where she was living and working.

Slideshow: The Nanny Murder Investigation

The DNA from the North Carolina rape also matched DNA in the rape of the Coral Springs girl.

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