Hands Off Cain

A man accused of shooting dead and butchering two Mormon...

A man accused of shooting dead and butchering two Mormon missionaries should be extradited to Texas to face murder charges, a London court ruled

1 MIN READ
A man accused of shooting dead and butchering two Mormon missionaries should be extradited to Texas to face murder charges, a London court ruled.
Robert Kleasen, 69, is wanted in the US for the murders he allegedly committed in 1974.District judge Timothy Workman, sitting at Bow Street magistrates court, ordered that the pensioner be extradited. The home secretary, David Blunkett, will have to approve the ruling before Kleasen can be sent back. The bodies of Gary Darley and Mark Fischer, his alleged victims, were never found.
The court heard that blood, hair and other evidence found in and around Kleasen's trailer home tied him to their murders. The US asked for Kleasen's arrest after he came to Britain, married a policeman's widow and settled in a Lincolnshire village.
The US had to agree that Kleasen would not face the death penalty if extradited to Texas, the state which carries out the largest number of executions. Kleasen was found guilty of murdering Fischer and spent 2 1/2 years on death row before his conviction was quashed in 1977 because of an illegal search warrant.
SOURCES
  • (Sources: Guardian, 17/08/2002)