SLAYING SUSPECT CHARGED

A Mexican man wanted in the killing of a Border Patrol agent was
charged Monday in Tucson with first-degree murder and drug trafficking
following his extradition from Mexico.

Bernardo Velardes Lopez was charged in U.S. District Court in the
shooting of Alexander Kirpnick.

Kirpnick, 27, was shot in the head June 3 as he and a partner sought
to arrest five suspected marijuana smugglers. The confrontation took
place about two miles north of the Mexican border, just west of Nogales.

According to a document filed in U.S. District Court in Tucson,
Velardes admitted to Mexican authorities that he fired at Kirpnick and
fled to Mexico, leaving a bundle of marijuana behind.

The Border Patrol has pointed to Kirpnick's slaying as an indication
of the growing climate of violence along the border, as a beefed-up
U.S. border force more frequently encounters drug smugglers.

The 159 assaults in the patrol's Tucson sector last year more than
doubled the previous year's tally.

Meanwhile, Justice Department officials say the extradition of
Velardes over the weekend is a sign of cross-border cooperation by law
enforcement officials.

Velardes was the third Mexican extradited this year under terms of a
1978 treaty between the United States and Mexico. The other two cases
involved child molestation suspects.

Velardes, 26, was arrested in June by Mexican authorities who detained
him while the U.S. extradition request was reviewed. Over the weekend
he was flown from Mexico City to Tucson, after U.S. officials agreed
that they would not seek the death penalty, which is forbidden under
Mexican law.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona reported in a news release that
Mexico extradited Velardes after he failed to meet a Nov. 6 deadline
for filing an appeal.

But Tucson attorney Jesus Romo said he had questions about the
circumstances surrounding the extradition, saying, "I am concerned
that this defendant was essentially left without proper
representation."

A second Mexican man, Manuel Gomez, was indicted in June on murder and
drug-trafficking charges in Kirpnick's death. According to the
indictment, Gamez said Velardes had been carrying a revolver as he led
a group that carried marijuana in backpacks.

Kirpnick, a native of Ukraine, immigrated to the United States in 1989
with his parents and sister. He later became a naturalized citizen and
joined the Border Patrol in 1996.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady