The man accused of being the Claremont serial killer, Bradley Robert Edwards, appeared in a Perth court on Friday morning charged with murder, abduction and sexual assault.

The 48-year-old Kewdale man remained silent during the brief appearance and was remanded in custody until his next appearance at Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court on January 25.

He was arrested on Thursday and charged overnight with the abduction and murders of Jane Rimmer, 23, and Ciara Glennon, 27, in 1996 and 1997.

He has also been charged with the rape of a 17-year-old girl in Claremont in 1995, and the indecent assault of an 18-year-old woman in a Huntingdale home in 1988.