SANTA CLARA -- Looking older, thinner and more haggard than he did four years ago when he bragged about kidnapping Xiana Fairchild, convicted child molester Curtis Dean Anderson was arraigned Thursday on charges he killed the 7-year-old girl.
Anderson, 43, who was represented by a public defender, did not enter a plea on the murder, kidnapping and molestation charges against him.
Xiana disappeared in December 1999 and her fate remained a mystery until her skull was discovered more than a year later.
After he was arrested in 2000 on charges he kidnapped another girl, Anderson boasted to reporters that he killed Xiana. He told one reporter he drugged Xiana, then put her body in a bag and tossed it down an embankment, investigators said. But they couldn't corroborate his stories until recently.
Anderson also tried to extort weekly payments from Xiana's great-aunt, Stephanie Kahalekulu, in exchange for guaranteeing her safety, investigators said.
Kahalekulu attended the brief hearing in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
"This is what I've been waiting for, for him to be charged with Xiana's kidnapping and murder," said Kahalekulu, who helped raise Xiana. "For her, I needed to be here."
If convicted, Anderson, a former Vallejo cab driver with a long criminal history, could face the death penalty. Prosecutors have not yet announced their intentions.
Anderson, who used a wheelchair in court and did not speak, already is serving a 251-year sentence for the 2000 kidnapping and molestation of another little girl from Vallejo who eventually escaped.
Public defender Ken Mandel said he met with Anderson, who has a bad right hip, for several hours last night.
"It's a grave tragedy," he said. "My heart goes out to the family."
Xiana's skull was found in the Santa Cruz mountains in January 2001. Investigators refused to release details on her cause of death or any physical evidence linking Anderson to the crime.
Copyright 2005 by KTVU.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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