A judge approved the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s request to exhume Magirl’s remains from Santa Fe National Cemetery.

SANTA FE, N.M. – A judge approved plans to dig up serial rapist Michael Magirl’s body so the state can test whether his DNA matches evidence in a 2002 rape case.

A judge approved the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s request to exhume Magirl’s remains from Santa Fe National Cemetery.

The state wants to determine whether his DNA matches DNA evidence from a July 2002 rape case.

Days after that crime, someone shot and killed Magirl with his own gun during another attempted rape.

The court order allows the state to move forward with the exhumation as part of that rape investigation.