Nevada Supreme Court Denies Christopher Ewing's Appeal Challenging Extradition To Colorado For 1984 Murders
LAS VEGAS (CBS4) - The man accused in a string of deadly hammer attacks in Lakewood and Aurora in 1984 could return to Colorado. Alexander Christopher Ewing is facing death penalty charges for the four murders.
The Nevada Supreme Court denied Ewing's appeal challenging extradition to Colorado to face murder charges in the 1984 deaths of Patricia Louise Smith in Lakewood and Bruce and Debra Bennett and their 7-year-old daughter Melissa, in Aurora.
Ewing, 58, has been in prison in Nevada since 1984 for attacking a Las Vegas-area couple after escaping while being transported to Arizona on an attempted murder charge.
Just last year, police in Colorado announced that modern DNA science had linked Ewing to four deadly hammer attacks in Colorado in 1984.
DNA Evidence Leads To Nevada Inmate In 1984 Hammer Attacks
Patricia Louise Smith was beaten to death with a hammer in her home in Lakewood.
Three of the four members of the Bennett family were murdered with a claw hammer in Aurora. Only 3-year-old Vanessa survived.
Barring Ewing's attempt to appeal this ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, Ewing will be brought to Colorado as soon as possible. If Ewing is extradited, he will be tried in Jefferson and Arapahoe counties.