Extradition fight for one of America's most wanted

One of America’s top 15 most wanted men will appear in the High Court today in a bid to fight extradition to the United States.

Frederick David Russell was on the run for four years after being charged with killing three students in a high speed car crash in Washington State in June 2001.

The 27-year-old fled to Canada following a series of death threats. He boarded a plane to England and went on the run across Europe for several months before he settled in Ireland in late 2001.

Working casual jobs in the construction and security business, he remained anonymous for years by steering clear of gardaí, the Revenue, Immigration and social services.

Using the alias David Carroll for the last six months, he had in effect stayed under the radar of the authorities.

Russell has been in custody since gardaí arrested him at a clothes store in Dublin city centre at the start of the year. He had been working as a security guard when detectives were alerted.

He is now facing extradition to the United States to face trial.

Russell had evaded authorities on both sides of the Atlantic since fleeing from the US after he was charged over the fatal pile-up.

He had been charged in connection with the high-speed crash, which occurred on the Moscow-Pullman Highway, in which three students were killed. Brandon Clements, 22, of Wapato, 21-year-old Stacey Morrow, of Milton, and Ryan Sorenson, 21, of Westport, all died in the accident.

Three other passengers in the same car were seriously injured.