Prisoner says he killed 48 across U.S.

[Janice]

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (AP) -- A Colorado man serving a life sentence on a murder conviction has claimed responsibility for up to 48 slayings throughout the United States, authorities said Thursday.

Robert Charles Browne, 53, told authorities the slayings occurred from 1970 until his arrest in 1995, in the death of 13-year-old girl in Colorado, the El Paso County Sheriff's Department said in a news release.

The investigation was first reported on the Web site of The Gazette of Colorado Springs.

The newspaper said authorities have linked Browne to 19 of the slayings, in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington and South Korea.

A sheriff's department spokesman said he had no immediate comment. The department scheduled a news conference for later Thursday.