Santaana - The trial of a man accused of one of California's most notorious killing sprees began on Monday with jurors watching videotape of two soon-to-be murdered women being taunted, tormented and abused.
In one tape, defendant Mr Charles Ng is seen cutting the bra off handcuffed Brenda O'Connor (20) - later identified among his alleged victims - as she pleads for the lives of her husband and 2-year-old son, who were also killed.
Mr Ng says on the tape, which police say he made: "You can go ahead and cry and stuff like the rest of them, but it won't do you no good. We are pretty, ha ha, cold-hearted, so to speak."
On another tape, Mr Ng's alleged accomplice, Leonard Lake, tells an apparently dazed Kathleen Allen (18) that she can either serve as a sex slave or "we'll probably tie you down, rape you, shoot you and bury you." Allen was also found murdered and dismembered.
Prosecutors showed the tapes to jurors during opening statements in the trial of Mr Ng (37), a former US Marine and the son of a wealthy Hong Kong businessman. He was arrested in 1985 for allegedly killing Ms O'Connor, Kathleen Allen (18) and 10 other people.
His case has been delayed for 13 years through legal wrangling and a long extradition battle with Canada and has cost California $9.5 million so far.