CANADA: MURDER SUSPECT EXTRADITED WITH GUARANTEE NO DEATH PENALTY

an Californian man who fled to Canada in late 2007 was been sent back to the US to face a murder charge - but only after the Canadian government secured a guarantee from American authorities that the suspect would never face the death penalty, Canwest News Service learnt. Arthur Charles Carnes IV was extradited on May 15 after attempting to gain refugee status in Canada on the basis that he could face capital punishment if handed over to US justice officials.
Carnes is alleged to have carried out the November 2007 shooting death and dismemberment of his former employer, 41-year-old lawn-mower repairman Matthew Seybert.
The terms of Carnes' transfer back to the U.S. are significant because they reinforce recent Canadian practice - even under the tough-on-crime Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper - of requiring a no-execution promise from U.S. prosecutors before returning American fugitives to face murder charges and, in states where lethal injection is still legal, a possible death sentence.