The jail inmate accused of killing a Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s deputy Monday was in a Douglas County, Nebraska courtroom Wednesday.  A judge set bond at $10 million for Wesley Correa-Carmenaty, who faces charges in Nebraska that include kidnapping, and is scheduled to appear in a Nebraska courtroom this afternoon (Thursday) for an extradition hearing.

Pottawattamie County Attorney, Matt Wilber, expects Correa-Carmenaty to come back to Iowa without a challenge. “I think he’s gonna waive, but if he decides to fight it, then we have to go through a long convoluted process of getting a governor’s warrant,” Wilber says. “Nobody ever successfully fights extradition, but it can delay us for a couple of months.”

Correa-Carmenaty is accused of killing Deputy Mark Burbridge, and shooting and injuring Deputy Pat Morgan during the escape, and then fleeing to Nebraska where he was caught. If the extradition proceeds without a challenge, then Wilbur says Nebraska will dismiss the charges there.

At his court hearing Wednesday in Nebraska, Correa-Carmenaty was surrounded by officers and wore handcuffs and ankle shackles that were connected to a chain at his waist. Douglas County, NE. Attorney Don Kleine said “We’ve got a person who has a history here that’s very dangerous, so the sheriff’s office and correctional facility will do everything they can to make sure everybody’s safe.”

The violence that took place Monday morning followed a sentencing hearing for Correa-Carmenaty. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison for a 2016 killing. He allegedly attacked the deputies as they were escorting him back into the jail, then took a transport van, shot another man in Council Bluffs in an attempt to take his pickup, and moments later carjacked a woman and let her go in front of a liquor store before he stole her vehicle and ended-up crashing during a pursuit into Nebraska.

Pott. County Attorney Matt Wilver says the next step is to find a place to hold Correa-Carmenaty once he’s extradited to Iowa.”I don’t think any of us think it is a great idea to put him in the Pott County jail again.  Not because we are worried about security — more because we are concerned about safety, liability —  if he gets a hangnail he is going to sue us saying retaliation,” Wilber says.

Wilber says finding the right place is an issue as most of the surrounding counties have smaller jails that raise security concerns for keeping such a dangerous prisoner.  Once Correa-Carmenaty is returned to the state, the warrant against him is read and formal charges are made. If he pleads not guilty, then Wilber says things could go to trial as quickly as 100 days. He says realistically he anticipate Correa-Carmenaty will get an attorney and the attorney will say he can’t be prepared in three months and will ask for a continuance, which could mean waiting up to one year before trial.

Wilber says his office would be ready to go in a a short time despite having three major crime scenes to deal with here and other crime scenes also in Nebraska.   “There’s a lot of information to get through.  I feel very good about where we are at,” Wilber says.  Correa-Carmenaty also could decide to plead guilty and that would speed up the process.  Wilber says he had a chance to visit deputy Morgan — and although he is in a lot of pain — he says Morgan is going to recover.

“He’s tough, he was smiling, his brother was there and it meant a lot to me to be able to see Pat sitting up. Just the same Pat that I’ve know working for the county for years,” according to Wilber. “I  know he’s got a little bit of a road to recover ahead of him, but he’s doing amazingly well under the circumstances.”

(Reporting by Karla James & Pat Curtis w/Radio Iowa)