SC prosecutor won't seek death penalty in 2006 killing

The Associated Press

GREENVILLE, S.C. --

A South Carolina prosecutor has agreed to drop any effort to seek a death penalty for a suspect who fled to Canada after the death of a pawn shop owner in Easley.

Prosecutor Bob Ariail told The Greenville News on Wednesday there was "no reasonable alternative" in the case against 23-year-old Roger Eugene Shephard of Williamston.

Shephard is accused in the June 2006 death of 65-year-old John Bruin.

Ariail says dropping a possible death sentence was the only way to get Shephard extradited from Canada.

Canadian authorities handed over Shephard to U.S. marshals at Champlain N.Y. on Tuesday after a two-year legal battle. Shephard on Wednesday agreed not to fight extradition from New York.

Shephard had been detained in Montreal within days of Bruin's death.

Information from: The Greenville News, http://www.greenvillenews.com