FILE - In this Aug. 22, 2013 file photo, former El Salvadoran military Col. Inocente Orlando Montano departs federal court, in Boston. More than a year after a his extradition was ordered, the former Salvadoran colonel remains far from answering charges of plotting the 1989 deaths of six Jesuit priests as an American judge considers legal entanglements still reverberating long after the country’s civil war. Now the failing health of 75-year-old Inocente Orlando Montano Morales raises the question of whether he will live long enough to face trial in Spain or El Salvador. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File) (The Associated Press)
RALEIGH, N.C. – More than a year after a his extradition was ordered, a former Salvadoran colonel remains far from answering charges of plotting the 1989 deaths of six Jesuit priests as his extradition case plays out in American court.
Now the failing health of 75-year-old Inocente Orlando Montano Morales raises the question of whether he will live long enough to face trial in Spain or El Salvador.
Montano's extradition was approved in February 2016 by a federal court, but a higher-ranking judge is now taking a second look.
That judge, Terrence Boyle, is reviewing three countries' laws to determine if the extradition can proceed.
Boyle said Thursday that he may let Montano live with family while the case plays out, but will issue a written decision later.
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