COLUMBIA, S.C. - An extradition hearing for a South Carolina man charged in the 1957 slayings of two California police officers has been scheduled for Feb. 20.

Gerald Fiten Mason, 69, has been in jail since Jan. 29 when he arrested at his Columbia home and charged with murder, rape, kidnapping and robbery.

California authorities say it was Mason who robbed two 15-year-old girls and their dates, raped a girl then drove off in one boy's car in the summer of 1957.

About 90 minutes later, officers Milton G. Curtis, 25, and Richard A. Phillips, 28, from El Segundo, Calif., pulled the car over.

The driver got out of the car and shot Phillips then ran back and shot Curtis through the police car's window, police said.

Generally, the extradition hearing is held and the state attorney general's office offers a recommendation to the governor in about a day, said Sonny Jones of the attorney general's office.