Maine Man Arrested In Alaska Cold Case Contests Extradition

LEWISTON, Maine - A Maine man charged with killing a woman 26 years ago in Alaska is contesting extradition. Steven Downs, of Auburn, Maine, made his intentions known in the first court appearance since his Friday arrest. A judge on Tuesday ordered him held without bail pending another hearing next month.
 
Alaska authorities charged Downs in the 1993 sexual assault and killing of 20-year-old Sophie Sergie, whose body was found in a dorm bathtub at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
 
The 44-year-old Downs was a university student at the time. Sergie was a former student.
 
Alaska police zeroed in on Downs after DNA submitted by his aunt on a genealogical website was linked to DNA from the crime scene. Downs told investigators he recalled Sergie's murder, but insisted he'd never met her.