Tucson, AZ: Tucsonan admits he killed wife, fled to Canada

Posted: May 26, 2010 5:37 PM EDT
Updated: May 26, 2010 5:40 PM EDT
Reporter: Sheryl Kornman

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Tucsonan Henry Fischbacker admitted Wednesday he beat his wife with a flashlight, held her under water and then fled to Canada. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Pima County Superior Court.

"Fischbacher faces between 16 and 20 years in prison when he's sentenced June 28 at 10:30 a.m.," said David Ricker, spokesman for the court.

Bloomberg News reported this about the case in October 2009:

"Canada's highest court ordered the extradition of an Arizona man accused of murdering his wife in 2006, reversing an appeal court ruling that said U.S. authorities failed to show the killing was premeditated.

The Supreme Court of Canada, in a 9-0 decision, said today the extradition of Henry Fischbacher on a first-degree murder charge in Arizona isn't unreasonable even though a Canadian court found there was only enough evidence to hold him on a second-degree murder charge.

"The 'misalignment' test is incompatible with three key components of extradition law," Justice Louise Charron wrote. The evaluation by Canadian authorities of a foreign state's decision to prosecute amounts to "second-guessing the foreign state's assessment of its own law."

Fischbacher is accused of killing his wife Oct. 5, 2006, at their home in Tucson, Arizona, by striking her with a flashlight several times and, after she fell unconscious, dragging her to a backyard swimming pool and holding her under water. A grand jury indicted Fischbacher the same month and U.S. officials requested his extradition in December 2006.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario said Aug. 1, 2008, under the extradition treaty between Canada and the U.S., a suspect can be extradited only if there is enough evidence to warrant a trial in the country the person is found in on the charges for which that suspect is wanted.

Justice Minister Robert Nicholson had said that in Canada first- and second-degree offenses weren't different and the classification was only for sentencing, an assertion dismissed by the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

The case is Between Minister of Justice of Canada and Henry Fischbacher, 32842, Supreme Court of Canada (Ottawa)."