The former WCU student accused of killing his father and burying his remains off of Moses Creek Road temporarily delayed extradition back to North Carolina and will remain in the Milwaukee County Jail, pending a review of the extradition papers.
An extradition hearing scheduled Friday, in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, was postponed because the papers necessary to transfer Derek Nicholas Anderson to Jackson County authorities have not arrived yet.
Anderson, 29, was indicted by a Jackson County grand jury on Monday, February 26, on charges that he killed his father, Allen Krnak.
Anderson, previously known as Andrew Krnak, was arrested last month at a Milwaukee halfway house after investigators discovered that bones found on a creek bank off Moses Creek Road in December 1999 belonged to his 55-year-old father.
Investigators said Anderson is a suspect in the disappearance of his mother, Donna, 52, and brother, Thomas, 21.
Authorities said Anderson’s extradition back to North Carolina is only a matter of time.
Jon N. Reddin, Milwaukee County deputy district attorney, said he expects the papers to be filed “within the next week or so,” which would be enough time to satisfy legal requirements.
The first extradition request from North Carolina officials was returned because of clerical errors in the affidavit, including incorrect dates and spelling errors. The Wisconsin Attorney General’s office sent the information back with instructions to North Carolina officials to make the necessary corrections.
Arguments on evidence cited by North Carolina authorities must be heard in North Carolina.
Anderson’s public defender, Neil McGinn, said he will continue to fight the process even though his legal avenues are limited.
The chance that Anderson could receive the death penalty, if convicted in North Carolina, is the biggest factor prompting Anderson’s legal battle, according to McGinn.
A close second, McGinn said, is what he considers to be a lousy case against Anderson.
“What I have seen so far is weak,” said McGinn shortly before Anderson appeared briefly in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on Friday morning. “It was incredibly thin.”
“If North Carolina authorities have enough evidence, they should get it to us sooner rather than later,” Circuit Judge Dennis P. Maroney said.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Contributed to this article.
