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| Kurt Sonnenfeld in 2002 |
Argentina’s supreme court has ruled that an American who took refuge and started a new life in the South American country can be extradited to face charges that he killed his wife more than a decade ago, a court spokeswoman confirmed on Saturday.
Kurt Sonnenfeld moved to Argentina in 2003, after prosecutors in Denver charged him with first-degree murder. The decision to extradite him brings to an end a longstanding dispute between the US Justice Department and Argentinian courts that centered in part on differences over the death penalty.
In the ruling, which was made on 11 December, the justices said US prosecutors had assured Argentina that “the death penalty will not be imposed, or if it were ruled, it will not be exercised in this case”. The ruling does not specify when the extradition may take place.
Sonnenfeld was a cameraman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) at the World Trade Center after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. He claimed he had video footage indicating the government knew the attacks would happen. He also claimed that his wife, who was found dead in their home on 1 January 2002, had killed herself and that prosecutors framed him for her death to silence him, allegations that Denver’s district attorney’s office has denied.
Sonnenfeld, who published a book in Spanish about his case, El Perseguido, or The Persecuted, has a following of fellow conspiracy theorists.
Source: The Guardian, January 3, 2015
Argentina agrees to extradite fugitive 9/11 ‘truther’ sought in wife’s 2002 murder
Argentina’s highest court has approved the extradition of a 9/11 ‘truther’ — accused of killing his wife in 2002 — who had requested political asylum saying the U.S. Government had set him up, reports the Denver Post.
Kurt Sonnenfeld, who moved to Argentina after Denver prosecutors previously dropped charges against him in the shooting death of his wife Nancy, is a former FEMA photographer who claims video he took at ground zero following the 2001 terrorist attacks proves U.S. involvement.
Three members of the Argentina National Supreme Court approved the extradition of Sonnenfeld after receiving assurances from U.S. officials that Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey’s office will not seek the death penalty against Sonnenfeld.
Sonnenfeld called 911 dispatchers on Jan. 1, 2002 claiming that his wife had shot herself in the head.
Denver police, believing the scene was staged, arrested Sonnenfeld, however prosecutors dismissed the charges several months later due to insufficient evidence at the time.
After the charges were dropped, Sonnenfeld moved to Argentina in 2003 where he remarried and where he was briefly detained by Argentinian authorities when U.S. prosecutors refiled murder charges against him after reviewing new evidence.
According to authorities, Nancy Sonnenfeld was shot in the back of the head, with court records saying “her injury was not consistent with having been self-inflicted.”
While in Argentina, Sonnenfeld launched a career as a 9/11 truther, developing a following while writing the book,
El Perseguido (The Persecuted), claiming that the American government wants him returned so they can silence his accusations that the attack on 9/11 was part of a ‘false flag’ conspiracy.
Sonnenfeld has previously accused the U.S. government of hacking into his email and tapping his telephone calls.
Source:
The Raw Story, Tom Boggioni, January 3, 2015
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