A Bronx man who eluded police for 17 years and is now charged with murder in the deaths of two New York women appeared in court Monday.

Christopher Gonzalez, 39, was arrested in November in Florida in connection with the strangulation of 19-year-old Dora Almontaser, who was found in December 2000 with a telephone cord around her neck in her family's Van Nest apartment.

Investigators say Gonzalez moved to Florida and worked at a Toys R Us until he was stopped for driving without a license. Authorities later discovered that he was wanted for murder.

Gonzalez is being held without bail and is due back in court June 4.