BATON ROUGE, La. -- A woman who survived a beating and attempted rape in her home in 2002 pointed to serial killing suspect Derrick Todd Lee in a Baton Rouge courtroom Thursday, identifying him as her attacker.

Lee faces a March 1 trial in the death of Charlotte Murray Pace, of Baton Rouge. He has been linked by DNA evidence to five other murders and is charged in the assault of Diane Alexander, a nurse from Breaux Bridge.

In a hearing that began Wednesday, prosecutors are seeking permission to use evidence from all the crimes in the Pace trial.

Alexander said Lee beat her, tried to strangle her and attempted to rape her.

During a break in the hearing, Pace's mother, Ann Pace, said Alexander's clear, unfaltering identification of Lee was crucial.

"She is the nail in his coffin," Pace said.

Alexander described her attack in detail. She said Lee approached her mobile home, identified himself as Anthony and said he was lost, unable to find his construction job. When he found out that her husband was not home, she said, he forced his way inside.

Her son interrupted the attack when he came home. Alexander said Lee bolted and got in a car and left. The son tried to chase him but couldn't figure which way he went.