Extradite Hans R. Peterson back to the U.S. from French St. Martin to face trial for the murder of Dr. David Cornbleet

On October 24, 2006, Dr. David Cornbleet, the beloved father, husband, doctor and friend too many was found by his daughter, tortured and killed in his downtown Chicago office. Stabbed over 20 times, Dr. Cornbleet was brutally murdered and left for dead by a former patient named Hans Peterson. Specific details on the case are available at:
http://www.nbc5.com/news/10152819/detail.htm &
http://www.myspace.com/dr_david_cornbleet_murder

After committing this horrendous crime, Peterson fled to and hid in the French portion of St. Martin. Before confessing and turning himself into French officials, Peterson applied for and was granted French citizenship merely based on his motherвs nationality. Even though he was born and raised in the United States and filled out his French citizenship application after committing the act of murder, France granted him citizenship in May of 2007 based on the fact that there is French blood in his lineage. As a French citizen, France claims that he is protected by their laws and has refused extradition. If he is ever tried and convicted, under French law at most he will face 20 years in prison, what the French consider being вa life sentence.в

All levels of the Untied States Government are responsible for protecting their citizens from criminals both foreign and domestic. When dealing with domestic criminals, this responsibility cannot end at our countryвs borders. In this situation, if the Unites States is unable to force the hand of the French government to extradite this suspect, a template is created in which all domestic criminals may operate. A loophole within our legal system has been found, and any domestic criminal, no matter their location, can strategize a full proof plan to escape American Justice.

The Cornbleet family deserves an American court to adjudicate this crime under American law. Hans Peterson sought French citizenship as a criminal and his application is solely for the purpose of bypassing the American justice system. We cannot allow American criminals to pick and choose which countryвs law should apply to them.

As a вFriend of Dr. David Cornbleetв I plea to the governments of both the United States and France to find a way to do what is right, and bring Hans Peterson back to Chicago to face trial.