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Murder suspect vows he will fight extradition By MARK FREEMAN A California man declared Friday that he will fight his return to Medford, where he faces murder charges for allegedly strangling a teenage girl 20 years ago. William Henry Allen Jr. refused to waive his extradition rights Friday during a hearing in a San Francisco Bay area courtroom, opening a new round of legal maneuvers for his return to Oregon to face an indictment for allegedly murdering Evelyn Marie Smith in Medford. Jackson County prosecutors plan to seek a special warrant asking California to turn Smith over to Oregon authorities against Allen's will. Allen has a California court hearing on his extradition scheduled for May 18 in Martinez, Calif. The only legal issue Allen can argue to stop his extradition is that he is not the man named in the murder warrant on which he was arrested in Contra Costa County on April 26 - the 20th anniversary of Smith's death. Allen's guilt or innocence involving any crimes associated with Smith's death carry no weight in such proceedings. "We've got the right person," Medford police Lt. Tim George said. "We have photographs, fingerprints, everything we need to prove it's him. "It's inevitable he's coming back." Deputy District Attorney Beth Heckert said Friday the extradition process may take up to a month. Smith was 17 years old when her beaten and strangled body was found April 26, 1981, in the tunnel beneath the Spiegelberg Stadium bleachers at South Medford High School. Allen was 16 at the time. A teenage arsonist and car thief who was in and out of juvenile detention, Allen became a suspect in Smith's murder after he kidnapped and robbed another teenage girl in Medford less than a month later, a crime for which he served six years in an Oregon prison. But police could not make their case against Allen until new, sophisticated DNA testing done last November allegedly linked Allen to the murder. Allen, who lived in the town of Oakley, Calif., prior to his arrest, was indicted April 2 in Medford and arrested three-and-a-half weeks later as he went to work in a steel refinery in California's East Bay. Since his arrest, Allen has been held at the Contra Costa County Jail pondering whether to fight his extradition to Oregon. If and when he does return, Allen will be arraigned on two counts of murder, each one offering different versions of the alleged crime. One count alleges that Allen murdered Smith, while the second theorizes that Allen murdered Smith in the course of raping her. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.