A Canadian military base commander charged with murdering two women and sexually assaulting two others confessed to the crimes and about four dozen "lingerie break-ins," a local daily said yesterday.

The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing unnamed sources, said Colonel Russell Williams gave police a lengthy and wide-ranging statement on the sexually-driven home invasions after his arrest on Sunday.

He also allegedly guided detectives to the body of his latest victim hidden in the woods near his home in Tweed, Ontario.

According to the newspaper, the officer's statements to police were delivered in an "almost business-like fashion." Col Williams, 46, hails from a 22-year military career. He was arrested for the disappearance and death of a 27-year-old woman last heard from on January 28 when she sent a text message to a friend to say she had arrived home safely.

He was also charged with the murder of a corporal under his command at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in November, and with two home invasions in September in which two women were confined and sexually assaulted.

Police told reporters a canvas on a highway near the latest victim's home led them to Col Williams. Local media said police matched tire tracks in the snow found at the crime scene to his sports utility vehicle during a roadside check.

According to The Globe and Mail, Col Williams, an avid amateur photographer, bound his victims with duct tape and blindfolded them with pillow cases, then tied them to chairs and photographed them naked.

The masked intruder took elaborate precautions, including laying bed sheets or blankets on the floor and clearing the scene of any possible evidence before leaving.

He would also take lingerie and other intimate souvenirs of his crimes, the newspaper said. Police are now searching his computer hoping to find a "treasure trove" of evidence, The Globe and Mail said.

Ontario Provincial Police Sergeant Kristine Rae said on Tuesday that police were also trying to link him to the 2001 rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, about 170 kilometres east of Toronto.