Carl Wayne Heath will fight extradition to Maine. The 20-year-old Fryeburg man, charged with the murder of Bangor taxi driver Donna Leen, told Maine detectives in New Jersey on Wednesday that he would not cooperate with attempts to return him to Bangor, where an arrest warrant for homicide has been issued on him for Leen’s Oct. 13 beating death.

“It doesn’t appear he [Heath] will be waiving extradition, at least today, so it may take a little longer to get him back into the state,” Detective Lt. Darrell Ouellette of the Maine State Police said Wednesday.

The decision slows an investigation that had been proceeding in a rapid manner since Leen’s body was discovered in a remote field in Corinth on Sunday. Her last fare was believed to be Heath, whom she picked up at a Bangor construction site.

Heath was stopped at about 3 a.m. Wednesday by a patrol officer in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., near the New York border. He reportedly was seen driving erratically in a black two-door Pontiac stolen a day earlier from a Charleston driveway in Maine. A computer check revealed Heath was wanted in connection with the eastern Maine homicide.

State police Detective David Preble and Bangor police Detective Ed Thorne flew to New Jersey Wednesday morning in a state police plane. The pair were expected to return to Bangor Wednesday night after assisting New Jersey law enforcement officials in processing the stolen car for evidence. There was no indication when the car would be returned to its owner.

Members of Leen’s family reacted with anger Wednesday once the man suspected of killing her was in custody. “I wish to hell I had a hold of him,” said Leen’s 82-year-old sister, Louise Leen of Bangor. Later, the emotion turned to frustration as the reality of the legal process set in.

“He’ll plead insanity and get away with it,” Louise Leen said.

Leen, 60, died of blunt force trauma to the head, according to autopsy results from the state Medical Examiner’s Office. Her funeral is Friday at St. John’s Catholic Church in Bangor.

Meanwhile, questions remain about why Heath was released after appearing in 3rd District Court the day before Leen’s disappearance. At the Oct. 12 hearing, he pleaded guilty to a year-old theft of services charge at the Rodeway Inn of Bangor, was sentenced to 48 hours in jail, credited with time served and released.

Heath was supposed to be returned to Cumberland County Jail, where a $20,000 bail had been set on him in connection with a burglary charge. Heath had never paid the bail. He was taken to Maine State Prison in Thomaston a few days before his court appearance in Bangor. Bangor court and jail officials apparently never were notified that Heath was supposed to be held after he appeared in court.

Officials at the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department have attributed Heath’s release to a lack of communication, though it remains unclear who was responsible for the error.

“It’s not so much that the system is broken down. The system isn’t a system in the first place,” said Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion.

Ouellette said it might take a week or two or longer to get Heath back to Bangor if he continues to fight extradition.

The Attorney General’s Office is working on extradition paperwork. At a hearing with a date yet to be scheduled in a New Jersey court, officials will argue that Heath should be extradited as a fugitive from justice from Maine. They will have to show the court that an arrest warrant exists on Heath and that the man in custody is, in fact, Carl Heath.

“It is not a very high burden of proof. Most of the time extradition happens,” said Chuck Dow, a spokesman for the Maine Attorney General’s Office.

Heath, who has a history of mental health problems, has been convicted of several burglaries and thefts statewide. He is the brother of Smokey Heath, 25, who is charged in the murder of a Benton used-furniture dealer last March.

Dick’s Taxi, where Leen was employed for seven of her 20 years as a taxi driver, will be closed from noon to 3 p.m. Friday so employees may attend Leen’s funeral. A trust fund has been set up to cover her funeral expenses. Donations may be sent to the law firm of Limberis & Limberis, 60 Columbia St., Bangor 04401.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.