Maine couple waives extradition in slaying

RAPID CITY, S.D. – A Maine couple asked Thursday to be sent back home to face charges in connection with the beating death of a Canadian military musician.

Benjamin L. Humphrey, 29, a South Dakota native now living in Brunswick, Maine, and his girlfriend, Aimee L. Pelletier, 23, also of Brunswick, asked Circuit Judge John J. Delaney to waive formal extradition proceedings, paving the way for the pair to be returned to Maine.

“I just want to go home,” Pelletier told Delaney during the 15-minute hearing at the Pennington County Courthouse.

Both declined to be represented by attorneys.

Humphrey and Pelletier were arrested Wednesday, four days after a manhunt began when officials in Maine issued arrest warrants for the two in the July 31 beating death of Sgt. Derek Rogers of Russell, Ontario.