The family of Los Angeles reality television producer Bruce Beresford-Redman is preparing for a showdown with Mexican authorities who have accused him of killing his wife.
"It's ironic that Mr. Beresford-Redman will now have to seek justice in Mexico after the U.S. system failed," family spokesman Stephen Jaffe said in an exclusive email to The Huffington Post. "Unless he's treated fairly down there, few people will ever feel safe traveling to that country again."
On Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian signed a 20-page extradition order to send Beresford-Redman to Mexico to face murder charges.
In making her ruling, Chooljian said she doubted Beresford-Redman's credibility. The judge also found there is sufficient evidence of probable cause that Beresford-Redman was involved in Monica Beresford-Redman's 2010 slaying.
Beresford-Redman, the 40-year-old former producer of the television shows "Survivor" and "Pimp My Ride," was arrested at his Los Angeles home in November 2010. He has maintained his innocence, but Mexican authorities say they have enough evidence to make a case against him on charges of aggravated homicide in the slaying of his wife.
On April 5, 2010, Monica Beresford-Redman, 41, disappeared from the Moon Palace resort in Cancun where she and her husband were staying. Her body was found three days later not far from the resort. Officials say she had been strangled.
According to allegations detailed in an 11-page criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of the Mexican government, the couple had been having marital troubles for some time before Monica Beresford-Redman's death.
Chooljian made her decision to extradite Bruce Beresford-Redman on July 12. The order will now be sent on to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for her signature.
Beresford-Redman's attorney, Richard Hirsch, had urged Chooljian to reject the extradition, based on inconsistencies in the evidence. Federal prosecutors disagreed, saying there is overwhelming evidence against the producer.
"The evidence is supposed to demonstrate 'probable cause' which it clearly failed to show," Jaffe said. "It was disheartening to see a U.S. attorney doing the prosecutor's job in a U.S. court instead of fighting for the rights of an American citizen."
It could take up to one year for Beresford-Redman to exhaust all of his U.S. appeals. If ultimately convicted, he could face between 12 and 30 years in prison.
Bruce Beresford-Redman
