US fugitive wanted in Tonga

Dean Jay Fletcher escaped from Tongan police in September and sailed to American Samoa where he was arrested and charged for entering the US territory illegally.

The US Department of Justice had requested his extradition after he was turned over to US Marshal Service agents in Pago Pago and taken to Honolulu.

US Magistrate Judge Kenneth Mansfield concluded that Mr Fletcher is extraditable for each offence for which extradition was requested.

Dean Jay Fletcher was arrested in Tonga in July for the murder but in September he escaped police custody on Vava'u.

RNZ reports the 54 year-old then fled the country on his yacht, eventually arriving in American Samoa, where he was arrested.

An American Samoa court dismissed a midemeanour charge of entering the territory without authorisation.

However, Mr Fletcher was last week handed over the federal authorities, who transferred him to Honolulu to face the extradition process back to Tonga.