American mother accused of killing two of her children fights extradition in London

LONDON (AP) — An American mother’s extradition fight to avoid trial for killing her children suffered a setback Friday when new evidence appeared to undermine her argument that sending her home from the United Kingdom would violate her rights.

Kimberlee Singler’s lawyer had argued that sending her back to the United States would violate European human rights laws, in part because she faces a sentence of life in prison without parole in the US state of Colorado if convicted of first-degree murder. Such a sentence would be inhumane because it offers no prospect of release, even if she is rehabilitated.

Singler, 36, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder for shooting and stabbing her 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son, and one count of attempted murder for stabbing her 11-year-old daughter with a knife. She also faces three counts of child abuse and one count of assault.

Defense attorney Edward Fitzgerald said that while there was an option for the Colorado governor to commute his sentence at some point, doing so was “political suicide” and experts concluded it had not been done.

But just as Fitzgerald was wrapping up her argument on the final day of the three-day hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, prosecutor Joel Smith stood up to say he had evidence that former Gov. John Hickenlooper commuted the first-degree murder sentences of six men in 2018.

Judge John Zani adjourned the hearing “in light of potentially important information” until Dec. 2 to allow attorneys to confirm a newspaper report about the commutations and provide further arguments.

Singler, who had superficial stab wounds when she was found in her Colorado Springs apartment with her children on Dec. 19, was initially considered the victim of what was reported as a robbery, police said. She tried to blame the attack on her ex-husband, with whom she was in a custody battle.

But her husband had a solid alibi, prosecutors said. He was driving a GPS-tracked truck at the time.

The daughter who survived the attack initially told police that a man who entered her home from the yard had attacked them.

But after recovering from her injuries and being transferred to a foster home, she told a caregiver that her mother was to blame.

The girl said her mother gave the children milk with a powdered substance in it to drink and told them to close their eyes as she led them to her brother’s room, Smith said.

Singler slashed her throat and, when the girl begged him to stop, he slashed her again. The girl said her mother had a gun.

“The defendant told her that God was telling him to do it and that the children’s father would take them,” Smith said.

Police found 7-year-old Aden Wentz and 9-year-old Elianna “Ellie” Wentz dead in the apartment. Smith said both had been shot and stabbed.

A gun, a knife and empty bottles of sleeping pills were found in the house.

Singler denies attacking his children, said Fitzgerald, who represented Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in his long-running fight for extradition to face espionage charges in the United States.

Singler is concerned that his daughter’s testimony against him was coerced and that the crimes were not fully investigated, Fitzgerald said.

After her daughter changed her story, police attempted to arrest Singler on December 26, but she fled. She was arrested in London’s posh Chelsea district four days later.

Singler, who is in custody, stood in the dock wearing a turquoise jacket and white T-shirt. She spoke publicly only to acknowledge that she understood why the hearing was postponed.