Michael Johnson, 27, accused of masterminding the November 2005 execution-style slayings of three people near Shiprock, waived his identity hearing before a federal magistrate in El Paso on Wednesday, clearing the way for his return to New Mexico, the Farmington Daily Times reported on its Web site.

By waiving his hearing, Johnson -- who was arrested in Mexico on Dec. 23 after more than a year on the run -- doesn't deny he is the same person being sought by federal authorities for the slaying of Vicki Benally, Bobby Wayne Fulton and Lars Yazzie, the Daily Times reported.

He will be transported by U.S. marshals to Albuquerque where he will face a preliminary hearing in federal court, it has been reported.

And he is expected to join three other suspects in the slayings that took place near the Hogback Chapter House who were rounded up shortly after the shootings -- Chuck Nahkai, 29, of Beclabito; Darcy Robert Manus, 22, of Shiprock, and Eugina Renee Cowboy, 22, of Shiprock.

Nahkai, Manus and Cowboy are scheduled to go to trial on Feb. 1, according to earlier reports.

FBI agents believe the killings resulted from a dispute between Johnson and Fulton over drug territory and that Johnson thought Fulton was interfering with his methamphetamine business, according to court documents cited by the Daily Times. 

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