Kimberlee Singler, a 36-year-old American woman wanted in the United States for the murder of two of her children and the attempted murder of a third, denied the charges in a London court on Wednesday as she contested extradition to the U.S.
Singler faces seven charges in Colorado, including first-degree murder of her nine-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son in December 2023. Prosecutors allege she killed the children by shooting them in the head and stabbing them in the neck in their home during a protracted custody battle with her ex-partner.
She is also accused of attempting to kill her third child, a girl who was 11 at the time.
Edward Fitzgerald, Singler’s lawyer, told Westminster Magistrates’ Court, “Ms. Singler denies that she is responsible for the death of her two younger children (and) denies that she is responsible for the attempted murder of her surviving child.”
Singler is challenging her extradition on the grounds that if convicted, she faces a mandatory sentence of life without parole, which her lawyers argue breaches her human rights.
Joel Smith, representing U.S. prosecutors, stated that Singler’s surviving child told police, “The defendant said God was telling her to do it and that the child’s father would take them away.” Smith added that Singler “initially blamed an unknown male and cast suspicions on her former partner,” but claimed, “That can be proved to be false.”
Fitzgerald countered that Singler was “concerned that the statement made against her by her surviving child was not voluntary.”
The hearing, during which Singler sat in the dock taking notes, is set to continue on Thursday.
