A Delaware man is being extradited to Arkansas to face a first-degree murder charge stemming from a 1967 homicide.
James Leon Clay, 68, of Georgetown, Del., admitted to the homicide when police arrested him March 10 at his home, according to Delaware court documents. Then he requested a lawyer and fought extradition for months.
Clay is on his way to Arkansas, according to a news release from Jackson County Sheriff David Lucas. Clay should arrive in Newport on Sunday, where he will be incarcerated in the Jackson County jail.
Clay is scheduled to be arraigned Monday before Newport District Judge Barbara Griffin, according to the news release.
Clay was arrested March 10 after authorities said he was recorded telling a former cellmate that he killed James Ricks, 27, of North Little Rock, authorities said.
Ricks was reported missing in June 1967. His remains were discovered in rural Jackson County on Aug. 27, 1967.
When Clay was arrested March 10, he "openly admitted" committing the homicide, according to a Delaware Supreme Court ruling Nov. 5.
"After being read his Miranda rights, Clay again admitted to committing the homicide, but then decided to remain silent and requested an attorney," according to the Delaware Supreme Court order, which confirmed a lower-court order that Clay be extradited to Arkansas to stand trial.
Clay had fought extradition on three counts: that the affidavit from Lucas wasn't notarized, that a Delaware governor's warrant wasn't issued for his arrest within 30 days of him being taken into custody, and the governor's warrant was ambiguous as to the charges Clay would face in Arkansas.
The Delaware Supreme Court found no merit in Clay's arguments.
Notarization wasn't necessary, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell issued a warrant for Clay's arrest April 1, and the warrant clearly stated Clay was being charged with first-degree murder, according to the Delaware Supreme Court decision.
A March 9 bench warrant from Arkansas also listed a kidnapping charge.
On March 18, Gov. Asa Hutchinson sent Markell a request for Clay's extradition to Arkansas, the Delaware Supreme Court order said.
On April 20, Clay filed a petition in Delaware Superior Court, stating the three claims that were considered later by the Delaware Supreme Court. The Superior Court denied Clay's petition April 22, but he appealed.
Robert Robinson, a public defender who represents Clay, didn't return a voice mail message Friday afternoon.
Third Judicial Circuit Prosecuting Attorney Henry Boyce also didn't return a telephone message Friday.
In an arrest affidavit filed in Jackson County Circuit Court in March, Lucas wrote that Clay and his brother, Leon Junior Clay, then 25, of Ellicott City, Md., robbed a Little Rock pawnshop named Doc's Trading Post in June 1967. Leon Junior Clay has since died, authorities said.
The two were arrested in Ellicott City on June 20, 1967, on a charge of carrying concealed weapons. Authorities found Ricks' Oldsmobile and fingerprints from both of the Clays inside the vehicle.
Both men were later convicted of transporting in interstate commerce, which included driving the stolen Oldsmobile from North Little Rock to Maryland. James Clay also was convicted of transporting a .32-caliber weapon taken from the Little Rock pawnshop.
On Aug. 27, 1967, a father and son found the remains of a man later identified as Ricks. A Jackson County coroner said Ricks had been shot at the base of his skull.
According to Lucas' affidavit, Clay was serving a three-year sentence in the Sussex County jail in Georgetown, Del., for attempted robbery when he told a cellmate about killing Ricks. Clay was released in August 2014.
The court document said the former inmate recorded Clay discussing the slaying Dec. 28, while the two were in a parole office in Georgetown.
Lucas wrote in the affidavit that Clay told the inmate that he and his brother found Ricks sleeping in his Oldsmobile after they robbed the pawnshop. He said he shot Ricks through the car window, according to the affidavit, but the shot was not fatal.
Clay then handcuffed Ricks and placed him in the car's trunk, the document said.
Clay and his brother drove to nearby Newport and stopped, taking Ricks out of the car and handcuffing him to a tree, the affidavit said.
He later took the cuffs off Ricks and said he was free, but then Clay shot Ricks in the head, Lucas wrote in the affidavit.
Metro on 11/14/2015