A London judge on Friday dismissed a Colorado Springs mother’s legal challenge to block extradition to the United States, where she faces charges of murdering two of her children.
Judge John Zani, presiding at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, ruled that Kimberlee Singler, 36, could be sent back to Colorado. The decision now rests with the British Home Secretary to formally approve her extradition.
Singler is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the December 2023 shootings and stabbings of her 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son. She also faces one count of attempted murder for allegedly slashing her 11-year-old daughter with a knife, along with three counts of child abuse and one count of assault.
Singler’s attorney, Edward Fitzgerald, argued that extradition would violate European human rights laws, as a conviction in Colorado for first-degree murder carries a life sentence without parole. He described such a sentence as “inhumane,” offering no chance for rehabilitation or eventual release.
Despite Fitzgerald’s arguments, Zani ruled that the existence of a clemency process in Colorado allows for the possibility of release, even for individuals serving life without parole. “I am satisfied that the defendant has failed to vault the hurdle necessary in order to succeed in the challenges raised,” Zani said in court.
Fitzgerald announced plans to appeal the decision, maintaining that Singler would have no realistic chance of release.
Prosecutor Joel Smith argued that Zani’s only obligation was to determine whether a mechanism for release exists, not whether it is likely.
Smith noted that Singler’s claim of innocence was contradicted by evidence from her surviving daughter. Initially, the girl reported being attacked by an intruder but later told investigators that her mother had tried to kill her.
Police said Singler fled Colorado shortly after the deaths of her two youngest children, 7-year-old Aden Wentz and 9-year-old Elianna Wentz, whose bodies were found in their Colorado Springs apartment on Dec. 19, 2023. Both had been shot and stabbed.
Singler was arrested four days later in London’s Chelsea neighborhood. She allegedly told investigators that her ex-husband was responsible for the murders, either directly or by hiring a hitman. Authorities, however, said the ex-husband had an alibi supported by GPS evidence.
Prosecutors say Singler gave her children a milk-like substance to drink before attacking them. Her daughter recounted that Singler claimed to be acting on instructions from God and expressed fear that the children’s father would take them away.
Singler’s surviving daughter suffered knife wounds during the alleged attack but managed to escape.
During the hearing, defense attorneys cited the rarity of clemency in Colorado, arguing that no individual serving life without parole had been released under similar circumstances. Prosecutors countered by pointing to a 2018 case in which then-Gov. John Hickenlooper commuted life sentences for five men convicted of murder.
The defense argued that the circumstances of those cases, including the offenders’ youth at the time of their crimes, did not apply to Singler.
The final decision on Singler’s extradition will be made by the U.K. Home Secretary. If extradited and convicted, Singler faces the possibility of life imprisonment without parole in Colorado.
