Extradition may come for an Emporia man accused of killing two Emporia women in Colorado earlier this year. That decision will wait until Phillip Lieurance gets sentenced for another significant case against him.
Lieurance accepted a plea agreement in late November as part of a case where he was accused of ramming his SUV into at least one other vehicle on the Kansas Turnpike near Emporia in mid-September. Lieurance pleaded no contest to three counts, two of aggravated battery while driving under the influence and one of aggravated battery. Three other charges, all either aggravated battery or aggravated battery DUI, were dropped as part of that hearing.
Lieurance also stands accused — but not yet formally charged — in Colorado for the deaths of Linda Estrada and Amy Ford, who were found near Eads, Colorado, on Sept. 20 after both women had been reported as missing for over a week. Extradition paperwork in Lyon County accuses Lieurance of Class 2 murder, tampering with a deceased body and unlawfully leaving Colorado after the deaths of Estrada and Ford, but Colorado state law says defendants must appear before a judge for them to be officially charged with criminal activity.
During a hearing Tuesday, both defense attorney Rick Meier and Assistant County Attorney Carissa Brinker asked Judge Doug Jones to review the extradition case after Lieurance’s sentencing, 9 am Jan. 19, in the aggravated battery case. Judge Jones agreed and set a review hearing for 2:30 pm Jan. 25.
