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San Diego

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A trial date of April 5 was set Tuesday for a young man from Rancho Bernardo who is charged with two racially motivated murders of unarmed Mexican migrants.

Dennis Bencivenga, 20, pleaded not guilty in the Nov. 9, 1988, killings to which a co-defendant, Kenneth Kovzelove, 18, has pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder.

Kovzelove admitted firing the fatal shots at Hilario Castaneda Salgado, 22, and Matilda de la Sancha, 19, on Black Mountain Road in Rancho Penasquitos.

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Kovzelove, of Mira Mesa, will be sentenced Jan. 12 and could face 50 years to life in state prison.

Bencivenga remains free on $300,000 bail.

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