A Waipahu man wanted in Utah on a murder charge waived extradition Tuesday and agreed to return to Salt Lake City to answer for a 1997 homicide.

Police arrested Alan Lee Marx, 59, of a Mokuola Street address, Monday after authorities in Utah filed the charge against him.

At a hearing in state court Tuesday, Marx waived his rights to challenge extradition.

Circuit Judge Richard Perkins ordered Marx to remain in custody without the opportunity for bail pending his transport to Utah.

Detectives from Utah are already in Hawaii to escort Marx to Salt Lake City, said Janice Futa, deputy city prosecutor.

Utah official said recent DNA evidence links Marx to the death of 77-year-old Ward Woolverton, whose body was found at a homeless camp under an interstate highway viaduct on March 20, 1997. The document charging Marx with murder said Woolverton’s head showed obvious signs of trauma.