1984 Hammer Attacks: Alexander Ewing's Extradition To Colorado On Hold
LAS VEGAS (AP/CBS4) - The man accused in a string of deadly hammer attacks in Lakewood and Aurora in 1984 is fighting extradition back to Colorado. Alexander Christopher Ewing is facing death penalty charges for the four murders.
Last October, a judge rejected Ewing's request for an appointed attorney to help him fight extradition and ordered Ewing transferred in custody to Colorado, according to Nevada Supreme Court documents filed this week. Now a lawyer is arguing Ewing should have been given a lawyer.
Ewing's extradition has been delayed pending his appeal. Attorney Martin Wiener of Reno represents Ewing. He declined Wednesday to comment.
Ewing is 58. He's 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.
If Ewing is extradited, he will be tried in Jefferson and Arapahoe counties.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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