EL DORADO, KAN. | A man suspected of killing a Kansas college student who led a secret life as an Internet porn model is being held on a $3 million bond in Kansas following his extradition from Mexico.

Israel Mireles, 26, made his first court appearance Friday before Butler County District Judge David Ricke in El Dorado.

Mireles was extradited back from Mexico Thursday by U.S. Marshals. He is charged with capital murder, rape and aggravated criminal sodomy in the 2007 death of 18-year-old Emily Sander.

The disappearance of the Butler Community College student drew nationwide attention after the discovery that she also was an Internet pornography model who went by the name Zoey Zane.

Butler County Attorney Jan Satterfield asked the judge to raise Mireles bond to $3 million, noting he had fled to Mexico after Sander's slaying.

Satterfield also told the court that while Mireles was in jail in Mexico City, he told a friend he had planned an escape by faking a serious illness and then escaping when he was taken to a hospital.

His preliminary hearing was set for July 8, though prosecutors said that date would likely be continued. Mireles said he planned to hire his own lawyer, but the judge for now appointed the Death Penalty Defense Unit in Topeka to handle his case.

Ron Evans, an attorney with the Death Penalty Defense Unit, said he had not seen the paperwork yet and did not know which attorney would be handling the case. He declined to comment.

Sander was last seen alive on Nov. 23 as she left an El Dorado bar with a man police have identified as Mireles.

Police found a large amount of blood in his motel room, prompting the search for Sander. Her body was found six days later, about 50 miles east of El Dorado.

Searchers found the body after tracing the route they believed Mireles took to pick up his then-pregnant, 16-year-old girlfriend at her grandmother's house in Baxter Springs before fleeing to Mexico.

Mireles was arrested in December 2007 at the home of a relative in Melchor Muzquiz, Mexico, and had fought his extradition to the United States.

Prosecutors had to promise Mexican authorities they would not seek the death penalty for Mireles in order for Mexican authorities to approve the extradition. If convicted of capital murder, he would face life in prison without the possibility of parole.



source : http://www.kansascity.com