Winnipeg police have turned over a murder suspect to the U.S. Marshals Service, 27 years after the crime was committed.
Police said they were contacted by U.S. authorities earlier this year about Robert Allen Creter, 60, who faces first-degree murder charges in connection with the 1997 death of a woman in Bridgewater, N.J.
The body of the victim, 23-year-old Tamara Tignor, was found on a dirt access road near a park in the area. Officials there believe she was strangled.
More than two decades after the homicide, advances in DNA technology led U.S. investigators to re-examine the evidence in the then still-unsolved case, which led to charges against Creter, who had been living in Winnipeg for around 20 years.
New Jersey prosecutors got in touch with Winnipeg police and Manitoba RCMP, and extradition proceedings were initiated so the accused could be returned to the U.S. to stand trial.
Creter was taken to Winnipeg’s James Richardson International Airport by police on Nov. 26, and transferred to the custody of the U.S. Marshals.
With files from The Canadian Press