SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — An Oklahoma man accused of killing two girls in California in 1973 has pleaded not guilty to murder charges.

Yuba County Deputy District Attorney John Vacek says 65-year-old Larry Don Patterson remains jailed following his arraignment on Tuesday.

Patterson was brought to California over the weekend after he declined to fight extradition from Creek County, Oklahoma, southwest of Tulsa.

A law enforcement task force arrested Patterson in the rural town of Oakhurst, Oklahoma. Patterson's cousin, 65-year-old William Lloyd Harbour, was arrested in California and pleaded not guilty last week.

Both men face murder charges in the shotgun slayings of 12-year-old Valerie Janice Lane and 13-year-old Doris Karen Derryberry.