A 48-year-old man convicted of a 1980 murder pleaded not guilty yesterday to murdering and raping a woman in 1999, three years after being released from prison.

Darnell Griffin, who is being held without bail, was given a trial date of June 12 by Circuit Judge Derrick Chan.

Griffin was convicted of murdering a 24-year-old X-ray technician whose body was found at her Makiki apartment in October 1980. He was given a life term with parole possible, and was paroled in 1996.

He is now charged with murder and first-degree sexual assault of 20-year-old Evelyn Luka, who was found near the H-2 Freeway exit at Ka Uka Boulevard in September 1999. She was in a coma and died the following month.

Griffin was indicted by an O'ahu grand jury last week after police said DNA from his blood sample matched the DNA from evidence recovered from an examination of Luka's body.