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Thursday, July 15, 1999 OnCampus/News    NATION    Rail killer in FBI custody   Alleged murderer surrenders after extensive manhunt   Staff Report   The six-week search is over for the alleged railroad serial killer, Maturino Resendez, the real name of Rafael Resendez-Ramirez, after he surrendered to authorities Tuesday morning.   At 9 a.m., the 39-year-old and his brother, a Mexican citizen, were walking across the Mexican border when he turned himself in at an Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) checkpoint in El Paso, Texas, shaking the hand of a Texas Ranger.   "He stuck out his hand, I stuck out my hand and we shook hands, and then I handcuffed him and he was in custody," said Texas Ranger Drew Carter.   He carried no identification, but immigration agents confirmed his identity using their computer and allowed him in to the country for prosecution, said Justice spokeswoman Carol Florman.   In giving his name to a judge, Resendez explained that the name Resendez-Ramirez was an alias he got from the name of an uncle.   FBI Director Louis Freeh attributed the break in the case to "negotiations over the past few days." An FBI official, who requested anonymity, said members of Resendez's family helped arrange his surrender.   Police booked Resendez with a burglary charge of Dr. Claudia Benton's home, in the Houston enclave of West University Place. Benton was killed on Dec. 17.   Resendez's fingerprints were found on Ms. Benton's stolen car and possible DNA evidence could link him to the crime, said assistant Harris County prosecutor Devon Anderson.   Within hours of his surrender, Resendez was flown to Houston where authorities interrogated him for nearly eight hours about the burglary and murder of Ms. Benton and another woman in the area, Noemi Dominguez, a 26-year-old schoolteacher.   Resendez's surrender agreement included assurances of family visits, a psychological evaluation and promises that he would be safe in jail, authorities said.   Resendez, who was one of the FBI's top ten most-wanted fugitives, is charged with three murders and linked to five other slayings, all of which occurred near railroad tracks. In Lexington, he was charged with the murder of UK student Chris Maier and the rape of his girlfriend in August 1997.     Current Headlines OnCampus/News

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