Court decides to allow fugitive Florida millionaire James Sullivan to be extradited

(14 Feb 2003)
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STORYLINE:
A Thai court ruled on Friday to extradite a fugitive Florida millionaire wanted in the United States for the 1987 murder of his socialite wife.
James Vincent Sullivan, aged 61, allegedly paid someone 25,000 (US) dollars to kill Lita McClinton Sullivan, to avoid losing property in a costly divorce. His attorney, Puttri Kuvanonda, said he will appeal the decision.
The court said the appeal must be filed within 15 days and that if Thailand does not extradite James Sullivan within three months, he must be released.
Lita Sullivan, age 35, was killed on January 16, 1987, at her home in Atlanta, Georgia, by someone posing as a flower delivery man. Lita's mother, Jo Ann McClinton, is a Georgia state legislator.
Her alleged killer, Phillip Anthony Harwood, was arrested in April 1998 and is currently facing a murder-for-hire trial in Atlanta. Prosecutors say he shot her in the head and are seeking the death penalty.
The Georgia Supreme Court in the United States on Tuesday denied an appeal to throw out Harwood's trial, which is expected to continue on February 18.
Sullivan was tried in 1992 on the charge of making telephone calls across state lines to facilitate the murder, but was acquitted.
He has argued before the Thai court that he wasn't even in the same state when his wife was killed and that the United States is now trying to extradite him on the same charges, which he claimed is not allowed under Thai law.
But US authorities say Sullivan is not sought for the 1992 charge but is wanted under a new indictment on murder, aggravated assault and other charges.
Sullivan, who once owned a large mansion in a Palm Beach, Florida, was arrested last July in Thailand after weeks of police surveillance of his condominium in the beach resort of Cha-am, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Bangkok.
Authorities were tipped off after someone had recognised him from the television show, America's Most Wanted.
Sullivan is being held in custody by Thai authorities.
Sullivan is believed to have left Florida in 1997 for Costa Rica, where he bought a second home. He fled Costa Rica after his 1998 indictment by a US court.
Sullivan obtained a residency permit in Thailand in 1998 when he married a local woman. His Thai wife, who has been present at all his court hearings, presented him with a pink heart-shaped Valentine's Day card.

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