President Obama should seek Claudia Hoerig’s extradition

Saturday was the fourth anni- versary of the murder of U.S. Air Force Reserve Maj. Karl Hoerig of Newton Falls, but his alleged killer is still at large — in Brazil, South America.

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins, who successful secured a grand jury murder indictment against Claudia Hoerig, knows where she is. The U.S. State Department knows where she is. Members of Congress, led by U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, know the whereabouts of the widow of the decorated American military flyer.

And yet, Ed and Fran, Karl Hoerig’s father and mother, brother, Paul, and daughter, Eva, continue to wait for justice to be served — just as they have been doing when his body was discovered in his Newton Falls home. He had been shot.

Claudia, who was a Brazilian citizen when she married Karl, fled to her native land where she has received protection from the government. This, despite the fact that she is also an American citizen and Prosecutor Watkins has sought her extradition to stand trial in Trumbull County on a charge of aggravated murder with a gun specification.

Four years and counting. But hope springs eternal — especially now that there is a new president in Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, who will soon be meeting President Barack Obama.

Obama is scheduled to visit three South American countries later this month, Brazil, Chile and El Salvador, “to forge new alliances across the Americas.” The Latin American visit from March 19 to 23 will take Obama to Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro, Santiago and San Salvador.

According to The Rio Times News in Rio de Janeiro, President Rousseff’s new administration has sent numerous signals that it wants to strengthen ties with the United States. The relationship between the two countries was strained when former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva insinuated himself in the Middle East peace talks and the negotiations over Iran’s push for nuclear energy.

The Rio Times News also reports that another point of conflict was the near trade war over U.S. cotton subsidies, which the Brazilians said affected the country’s ability to compete in the market. A deal announced in April avoided retaliatory sanctions that would have cost the U.S. $30 million.

New chapter

President Obama’s visit will open a new chapter in U.S.-Brazil relations, but the Brazilians must know that American public opinion will be influenced by how Rousseff responds to calls for the extradition of Claudia Hoerig. She should quickly disabuse herself of the notion that a trial could be held in Brazil, with Watkins and his prosecution team traveling to South America. Such a trial would be a farce.

The crime of murder was committed on American soil — Trumbull County — by an American citizen, against an American citizen.

Justice demands that she be brought to trial in America under a justice system that is tried and true.

A trial in Brazil would not only put Watkins and his team at a clear disadvantage, but it would send a dangerous message to America’s allies: That a request for the extradition of an accused criminal isn’t worth the paper it is written on.

During her swearing in, the Brazilian president, Rousseff, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talked about cooperation between the two important trade partners.

She should be put to the test by President Obama, who needs to demonstrate a commitment to justice — American style — by seeking Claudia Hoerig’s extradition.