KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - After 13 years and an international legal fight, a man charged in two 1997 homicides has been returned to Kansas City to face charges.
Jackson County officials say Ralston Wellington was flown by U.S. marshals from England to Kansas City late last week. He is jailed on $500,000 bond on two-counts of first-degree murder.
The 37-year-old Wellington is charged in the Feb. 13, 1997, shooting deaths of John Bonner and LaKesha LaMaster. Court documents say LaMaster and Bonner were innocent victims when gunmen forced their way into a Kansas City house, allegedly looking for someone who had stolen $70,000 from a drug house.
Wellington was arrested in 2003 in London. He fought extradition until dropping his challenge earlier this year.
A co-defendant, Warren Price, is serving a 12-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter.