Canada To Deport Slaying Suspect -- Most-Wanted Fugitive On Run Since 1994 Shooting

Scott Allen Freeburg, one of the federal Marshal Service's 15 Most Wanted Criminals, soon will be back in the King County Jail to face a murder trial.

Freeburg, who was arrested in February in a Vancouver, B.C., suburb for allegedly driving a stolen truck, yesterday was ordered deported to the U.S. to stand trial in King County.

He is charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 17, 1994, slaying of Trinidad Martinez, 27, of South Seattle and with the attempted murder of Martinez's wife. Prosecutors allege the couple were shot when Freeburg and another man, Lawrence Kuhn, went to the Martinez home to collect a drug debt.

Kuhn, convicted almost two years ago of first-degree murder for his involvement in the shootings, was sentenced to life in prison under the state's "three strikes" law.

Freeburg, 39, was in a halfway house in Seattle and on parole from a bank-robbery conviction when Martinez was slain, Deputy U.S. Marshal Denny Behrend said. He was declared a federal fugitive after failing to appear for a Dec. 15, 1994, court hearing on the murder charge.

Freeburg has a long history of arrests, convictions and jail terms for murder, escape, robbery and firearms violations. He has spent much of his adult life behind bars, including nine years that were added to one sentence after he attempted to kill another prisoner, Behrend said.

"This guy is really up there with some of the heavy criminals," he said.

During yesterday's deportation hearing in Vancouver, B.C., Freeburg contended he is innocent of the murder charge and said Washington authorities want to shut him up because he has information pointing to a police officer as the Green River killer. Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecutor's Office, and Behrend scoffed at Freeburg's contention.

Behrend said Freeburg will be turned over by Canadian authorities at the border in the next few days.

"We are very pleased that he will be coming back," Donohoe said.

Only the defendants fleeing from the most serious charges qualify for the marshal's 15 Most Wanted List, which is similar to the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.

Dee Norton's phone message number is 206-464-2255. His e-mail address is: dnor-new@seatimes.com