Gang fugitive extradited to US

Kilgore will serve six years in prison under a plea deal

Fugitive James Kilgore, due to stand trial in the US on murder charges dating back to his involvement in a 1970s revolutionary group, has been extradited by South African authorities.

The SLA committed several violent crimes in the 1970s

Mr Kilgore - who lived in Cape Town as John or Charles Pape - had been on the run for more than 25 years before he was apprehended last month.

He was accompanied on the flight from Johannesburg to San Francisco, California, by US marshals and agents from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Once in the US, Mr Kilgore will face second-degree murder charges relating to the death of a woman during a bungled bank robbery in San Francisco, in addition to explosives and passport violations charges.

His lawyers have negotiated a deal whereby he will serve six years in return for pleading guilty to the murder charges.

Infamous group

Mr Kilgore had been a member of the extremist political group the Symbionese Liberation Army, most notorious for its kidnap of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst.

The SLA formed in Berkeley, California, in the 1970s, and committed a series of bombings, murders and robberies before most of its members were killed in a dramatic fire following a gun battle with Los Angeles police.

KILGORE'S DOUBLE LIFE

Fled to South Africa

Married

Had two children

Gained respect as university lecturer

Four other members went on the run before being recaptured in 2001.

They have since made similar deals with US authorities to serve sentences of between six and eight years for their parts in the robbery.

Mr Kilgore is the last SLA member to be captured.

After disappearing, he ended up in South Africa where he married, had children worked as a highly respected university researcher.

He has said through his lawyer that he intends to return to South Africa once he has served his sentence.