SNOW HILL — Accused murderer Matthew Burton, held in Worcester County for over two years, has been sent back to Delaware after exhausting his attempts to avoid extradition.
The Maryland Court of Appeals late last month denied Burton’s writ of certiorari, which, if approved, would have allowed the state’s highest court to rule on the accused killer’s claims his rights have been violated on several fronts. The Worcester County Circuit Court and the Maryland Court of Special Appeals had already denied Burton’s assertion the initial charges against him in Worcester were only dropped after the Maryland General Assembly abolished the death penalty and the new charges were filed in Delaware because that state still has capital punishment.
In late January, the Court of Appeals essentially upheld the lower courts’ rulings on Burton’s extradition, paving the way for his transfer to Delaware to face murder and rape charges. With his last appeal exhausted, Burton was transferred from the Worcester County Jail to Delaware last week.
Burton was indicted by a Worcester County grand jury on first-degree murder and first-degree rape charges for the death of a Delaware woman whose body was found on a roadside embankment near Whaleyville in June 2012. However, in August 2013, Delaware State Police announced they were charging Burton on first-degree murder and first-degree rape charges after evidence discovered during a thorough investigation indicated the crime was committed in the First State.
After the investigation and DNA evidence connected Burton to Bennett’s murder, detectives consulted with the Worcester County State’s Attorney’s Office and a warrant for his arrest was obtained. Around 7:15 p.m. on July 7, the U.S. Marshal’s Task Force, a warrant apprehension team, located Burton driving on Route 1 near Rehoboth Beach.
Burton initially fought extradition to Worcester County to face murder and rape charges for Bennett’s death, but was ultimately transferred and indicted by the Worcester grand jury. In the interim, Maryland lawmakers abolished the death penalty, essentially taking that punishment for Burton off the table in Maryland.
Worcester County prosecutors then offered Burton a plea deal that would result in consecutive sentences of life without parole for murder and rape, but Burton declined. Delaware then indicted Burton on the same charges after new evidence suggested the crime took place in Sussex County and the victim’s body was merely dumped in Worcester, and prosecutors in Delaware said they would seek the death penalty in the case. Burton then began his lengthy battle to avoid extradition to Sussex County.
“In reviewing Burton’s brief along with the record, it appears that Burton is claiming that the Maryland prosecutor dropped the Maryland charges because he refused to accept the plea deal,” the high court opinion reads. “What pervades Burton’s argument is the possibility that if he were tried in Delaware, he could receive the death penalty and that the prosecutors were working together to achieve a plea. But as we see it, the Maryland prosecutor was simply informing Burton and his counsel that if he did not accept the plea offer, Maryland would drop the pending charges and any prosecution by Delaware would supersede the current criminal case in Maryland.”
Essentially, Burton was fighting extradition to Delaware because that state was prepared to seek the death penalty in the case if he were convicted. However, Maryland’s highest court has now denied his last attempt to stave off extradition and he is back in Delaware to face the charges.