Mexican Officials Begin Extradition Process for Accused Killer

Officials in Quintana Roo, Mexico, have initiated the extradition process in the case of the slain Los Angeles resident and restaurant owner Monica Beresford-Redman, according to the LA Times. The suspect is her husband, reality television producer Bruce Beresford-Redman, who left Mexico against orders during the investigation of his wife's April murder. Monica Beresford-Redman was found dead in a gutter outside the Cancun hotel where the couple were staying on vacation.

As a first measure in the extradition, officials in Mexico must verify the suspect's whereabouts; recently, for about one week, Beresford-Redman could not be located in Mexico, and eventually surfaced back in Los Angeles prior to his late wife's funeral and a legal attempt to be granted custody of their children. It is not clear how Beresford-Redman was able to leave Mexico without his US passport, which he was asked to surrender during the course of the investigation.

Beresford-Redman's attorney, however, has said he will fight his client's extradition, and that there had been no legal expectation for him to remain in Mexico.