London ? An unemployed British computer programmer accused of killing his wife and infant daughter as they lay in bed in their Massachusetts home agreed Friday to return to the United States to face charges.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke signed an order Friday authorizing the return of Neil Entwistle, 27, to Massachusetts. That cleared the last legal hurdle in Britain, and Entwistle could be sent back at any time.

Entwistle, who was arrested Thursday in London, wished to return to the United States “as soon as possible” to face the charges, his attorney Ben Brandon said at a hearing earlier at Bow Street Magistrates Court.

Prosecutor Martha Coakley, speaking on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” said once Entwistle arrives in Massachusetts, prosecutors would ask that he be held without bail pending a trial she said would likely begin within a year.

Entwistle is accused of using his father-in-law’s handgun to shoot Rachel Entwistle, 27, and 9-month-old Lillian on Jan. 20 as they cuddled together in bed in the Boston suburb of Hopkinton. He flew to London the next day.