Canadian immigration officials ordered one of America's 15-most wanted fugitives back to the U.S. on Friday after he was recently apprehended in New Brunswick.
Convicted killer Richard Lee McNair was captured by a rookie RCMP officer near Campbellton on Oct. 25.
McNair had been on the run from a Louisiana prison for past 18 months and was prominently featured on the popular television show "America's Most Wanted."
On Friday, an Immigration and Refugee Board official ruled in Montreal that McNair has no grounds to remain in Canada and posed a serious flight risk.
The hearing lasted about 20 minutes and McNair declined to be represented by counsel. He did not issue a defence during the proceedings.
McNair, who appeared via video link during the hearing, will be detained in New Brunswick until his deportation order is carried out.
Stephane Malebar, of the Immigration and Refugee Board, told CTV Montreal that if McNair waives all of his rights, he could be deported to the U.S. in a short period of time.
"The person is allowed 30 days detention review, so after 30 days, we will review again if we have to maintain that person in detention. But if the person is deported before that, it won't happen," Malebar said.
In 1988, McNair pleaded guilty to the murder of truck driver Jerome Theis of Circle Pines, Minn. Theis was shot to death during a burglary at a Minot grain elevator in 1987.
In April 2006, while serving three life sentences in a Louisiana prison, McNair escaped by hiding in a pile of repaired mail bags that were later shrink-wrapped and shipped to a nearby warehouse.
Authorities originally thought he would seek refuge in Mexico, but three weeks after his escape, RCMP in Penticton, B.C., found him sitting in a stolen car. He fled from B.C. authorities and was then spotted in southern Alberta, prompting Calgary police to join in the hunt.
He was apprehended after rookie Const. Stephane Gagnon and his field coach, Const. Nelson Levesque, spotted a van authorities believed to be stolen by McNair. During a brief pursuit, the van turned onto a dead-end road and the driver tried to run away.
He only got about 400 metres before Gagnon, who had been on the force for only six weeks, tackled him and made the arrest.
With a report from CTV Montreal's Cindy Sherwin and files from The Canadian Press
