Canadian high court to consider NH extradition

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) – The Supreme Court of Canada plans to hear arguments over whether two men should be extradited to New Hampshire to face charges in the deaths of two Nashua women 25 years ago.

The Telegraph of Nashua reports the court has agreed to hear the appeals of David Caplin and Anthony Barnaby.

The men are Canadian Micmac Indians who were working construction in Nashua when 48-year-old Charlene Ranstrom and 32-year-old Brenda Warner were bound, beaten and stabbed to death in their home in October 1988.

Police say new DNA evidence and witnesses justify extradition of the men.

Three juries failed to convict or acquit Barnaby. Officials dropped first-degree murder charges against Caplin after courts threw out much of the evidence.

“This is the same case where they believed they had proof beyond a reasonable doubt three times before, and a jury disagreed with them,” said Mark Sisti, who represented Barnaby during the trials.

There was no indication of when the cases will be heard.

A lower Canadian court ruled in August that Caplin would be extradited, but that trying Barnaby a fourth time would be unprecedented.

Both were arrested in April 2011 after Nashua police detective Sgt. Frank Bougeois led a cold-case investigation into the murders.

The men came to Nashua to work construction jobs during a boom in the housing market. They grew up together on the Restigouche Indian reservation in northern Quebec and were roommates at the time of the killings. They were living on the floor beneath the women in 1988.

Police at the time said Barnaby admitted he and Caplin broke into the women’s apartment, tied up the women and then beat and stabbed them. But defense lawyers argued the confessions were coerced during a lengthy police interrogation.

The police interrogation of Barnaby was not taped. Barnaby claimed he was drunk and asleep on a couch on the front porch when the killings took place.

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Information from: The Telegraph, http://www.nashuatelegraph.com