The extradition of two South Africans accused of killing a British businessman and private investigator would go ahead despite a car crash on Monday night in which a British detective was killed, police said.
Paul Ras and Loren Anders Sundkvist are to be extradited to Britain to stand trial for the contract killing of Barry Trigwell at his home in Sutton Coldfield in February 1995.
Ras was being escorted to Johannesburg International Airport last night when a police vehicle rolled, killing Interpol official Robert Ling and injuring two other British Interpol agents as well as a South African colleague.
Ling and the two other British agents were to have escorted Ras back to the United Kingdom. Senior Superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht said Ras’ extradition has been postponed until later this week but Sundkvist’s will be extradited on Tuesday night, as planned.
Ras and Sundkvist were allegedly hired by the victim’s wife, Anne Trigwell, to murder Barry, her third husband.
Trigwell is serving a life sentence for conspiracy to commit murder. She was dubbed the ”Black Widow” by British media for allegedly having her previous spouses murdered as well.
Ras and Sundkvist were arrested by police on an Interpol warrant in Johannesburg in 1999, but were both in custody for unrelated crimes and could not be extradited at the time, Martins-Engelbrecht said. Now that both have served their sentences for those offences, they can be extradited to stand trial in the UK. – Sapa