Peggy Chapman, the spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Corrections, said Mr. Atkins confessed after talking with Aiken investigators Aug. 28-29 at Ware State Prison in Waycross, Ga.

When the link between Mr. Atkins and Jessica's August 2000 slaying was announced Friday, Georgia prison officials moved Mr. Atkins, 31, to the state prison in Reidsville. Mr. Atkins is being held under a higher security level because of the new charges, Ms. Chapman said.

Aiken investigators said DNA left at the Carpenter home, where Jessica was killed, matches Mr. Atkins. That announcement came with five charges against Mr. Atkins, including murder and first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Also at the Friday announcement, Aiken investigators offered details about how Mr. Atkins, who worked as a driver for an Augusta delivery service, met Jessica.

Robert Franklin Atkins: Homicide suspect was moved to a more secure prison. SPECIAL

Investigators said they tracked his movements working for now-defunct Moore Express to Crosland Park, the neighborhood where Jessica lived. They said he even had delivered to the city police station.

Capt. Wendell Hall, of the Aiken Department of Public Safety, said Wednesday that his agency would not release any information about a possible confession.

Sgt. David Turno said Wednesday that investigators initially questioned every type of worker who could have been in Crosland Park on the day of or days leading up to the slaying.

"They did interview mailmen, water men, paper men and anybody else that they could find that may have had contact with Jessica at the house doing any deliveries," Sgt. Turno said. "It's just this guy ... no one could remember this delivery coming a week or more earlier to the house."

Reach Matthew Boedy at (803) 648-1395 or matthew.boedy@augustachronicle.com.