The ex-partner of a woman whose body was found at the base of a cliff in 1997 will be extradited to Brisbane where he’s expected to be charged.
Keith Lees, 72, will be flown from NSW to Queensland in the company of detectives after a Sydney court granted his extradition on Thursday.
He was arrested on January 2 in connection with the death of his former partner, 25-year-old Meaghan Louise Rose.
Lees had been facing charges in NSW of identity fraud and assault, after allegedly biting a police officer, but these were withdrawn to allow the extradition to go ahead.
Lees spent roughly 18 months evading an arrest warrant after being questioned by police under an alleged fake identity.
The court was told a flight had been arranged to take Lees to Queensland where he is expected to front Brisbane Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
Rose’s body was discovered at the base of Point Cartwright Cliffs on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
While the death was initially ruled a suicide, investigators reopened the case in 2009 and a $500,000 reward for information was announced in June 2023.
At the time, Queensland detectives travelled to Victoria and spoke to Lees, before his car was found abandoned the following day at Portland in the state’s southwest.
Lees allegedly gave a false name to other officers at Port Fairy, before being picked up on CCTV purchasing new clothes in Geelong, and was last sighted at Shepparton train station.
Relatives of Lees publicly appealed for him to stop running from the interstate arrest warrant.
His adult child, Wren Dawnsong, said they hoped Rose’s family would get closure.
“My heart breaks for them daily, justice needs to be done,” they said.
