AUBURN, Maine - A Maine man is no longer fighting extradition to Alaska to face charges that he raped and killed a woman there more than 25 years ago.
Steven Downs of Auburn is charged with assault and murder in the brutal killing of 20-year-old Sophie Sergie at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1993. The Sun Journal reports Downs has withdrawn a petition contesting extradition.
Downs' lawyer, James Howaniec, says Downs maintains his innocence, and will fight the case in Alaska.
The 44-year-old Downs was due in court on Thursday. Then Alaska authorities will have 30 days to retrieve him.
Downs was a student and Sergie was a former student at the time of Sergie's death. The case went unsolved for years before DNA evidence led to Downs' arrest in February.
