John Graham to be extradited
A British Columbia judge has ruled that there's enough evidence to recommend that John Graham be extradited to the United States, where the former Yukoner faces charges he murdered an aboriginal activist 30 years ago.
Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash was shot in the back of the head on a South Dakota reserve in 1976.
- INDEPTH: Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash
Graham's daughters began weeping as Justice Elizabeth Bennett read out the decision. The accused man simply stood, gave a small smile and waved to supporters.
Outside the courthouse, he spoke briefly with reporters.
"I am very disappointed," he said. "Surprised? No, not surprised, because the lawyers warned me."
Graham's lawyer, Terry LaLibert¿, says his client is being railroaded. He says he'll file an appeal on Graham's behalf.
Arlo Looking Cloud was also convicted in connection with Pictou-Aquash's murder last year.
- FROM: Feb. 7, 2004 Looking Cloud found guilty of Aquash murder
He told FBI agents that he watched Graham kill the woman, but he later recanted, saying he'd been plied with alcohol and drugs prior to the alleged confession.
The formal deportation order will not be issued until at least March 2, at LaLibert¿'s request.
Justice Minister Irwin Cotler will make the final decision on whether Graham will be sent back to the U.S. to face trial.
Pictou-Aquash's family cheered today's ruling.
"Certainly we're pleased as a family," says the victim's daughter, Denise Maloney Pictou.
"I'm personally pleased as her daughter that the B.C. Department of Justice believes the vicious, violent murder of this Canadian woman activist, sister and mother does matter."
Pictou says she and the rest of her family will now patiently wait for the appeals process to move through the Candian courts.
She remains convinced Graham will eventually stand trial for the murder of her mother.
Both Graham, now 49, and Pictou-Aquash were both members of the American Indian Movement at the time of her murder.
The FBI say Aquash was killed because AIM members suspected she was an informant during a very volatile time.
Native groups have long claimed that government agents killed Aquash in an effort to undermine AIM.
Pictou-Aquash's fate was marked in Buffy Sainte-Marie's song Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
Graham has been living under house arrest in Vancouver while awaiting the outcome of the hearing.