Brno, Feb 1 (CTK) – The Regional Court in Brno has rejected a complaint filed by U.S. citizen Kevin Dahlgren, charged with a quadruple murder in the Czech Republic, and he will therefore stay in pre-trial custody, Municipal Court spokeswoman Petra Hovorkova told CTK on Monday.
Dahlgren faces 15-20 years in prison or even life imprisonment if found guilty,
Dahlgren, who pleads innocent, is charged with having killed his cousin, her husband and their two sons in Brno, where he worked as an English teacher, in May 2013. The motive of the murders is unknown.
The Municipal Court in Brno rejected Dahlgren’s request for release on bail last December.
The court did not even admit negotiations about the bail level. Dahlgren filed a complaint against the decision with the Regional Court that turned it down several days ago.
According to CTK sources, the court argued that Dahlgren might attempt to escape if he were prosecuted without being detained.
His defence lawyer Richard Spisek told CTK before filing the complaint that the chance of Dahlgren’s release on bail was very low.
Dahlgren is suspected of a multiple murder after which he allegedly set the family house in Brno on fire. Then he took taxi to Vienna, from where he left for the United States. The Czech authorities issued a warrant for his arrest, based on which he was detained by the FBI on his arrival in Washington.
Dahlgren was in custody in the United States from May 2013. The Czech authorities were negotiating about his extradition that was approved last August.
This has been the first case of the USA extraditing its citizen to the Czech Republic.
