HAMPTON, Va.-
The husband of Nevada’s late state controller waived extradition Monday and will face first-degree murder charges in her death.
Chaz Higgs, 42, was arrested Friday in Hampton, where he had been staying with relatives. He is accused of injecting Kathy Augustine, 50, with a lethal dose of muscle relaxant in July.
Augustine was campaigning for state treasurer at the time of her death. She had been impeached by the Nevada Assembly, convicted by the Senate for using state equipment on her 2002 campaign and censured, but she had not been removed from office.
Higgs said nothing during the short extradition hearing Monday. Nevada authorities have 30 days to pick him up.
“The best way to defend yourself is to go home and defend, and that’s what he’s going to do,” attorney Mike Maguire, who represented Higgs at the extradition hearing, told reporters outside court. He said Higgs had been notifying Nevada authorities of his whereabouts and was surprised when he was arrested on the murder charge.
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