The commission referred the case to a court, which will form a committee of three judges to hold the trial, Al-Madinah newspaper reported on Monday.

The 45-year-old Yemeni national, who allegedly raped and murdered the maids, was arrested after a four-year manhunt. He had been living in Yanbu illegally.

According to police, the suspect admitted to his crimes during questioning and his confession was authenticated by a court. All victims were raped before they were killed.

He was arrested on Sept. 1 last year while allegedly attempting to lure another housemaid who would have been his fourth victim.

The bodies of the three maids were so badly disfigured that police were unable to identify them. One of the bodies was found buried on Yanbu Corniche in a plastic bag. The body of another had been found with stab wounds and acid burns over her face.

The third body was found already decomposing in a remote area close to a rest house near the town of Umluj.

The suspect used to pick housemaids without any legal identification as his victims to avoid detection.

Police had been looking for him for about four years before he was finally arrested on a tipoff from his own son, who was caught for begging.

Police said the suspect possessed several forged ID cards and pictures of housemaids on his mobile phone, including a photograph of one of the three women.

None of the victims’ relatives or sponsors has so far come forward to identify their bodies.