Saline County Sheriff Phil Mask, left, and District 22 Prosecuting Attorney Ken Casady sit at a press conference Friday afternoon to announce the return of murder suspect Timothy Wallace to Saline County. Wallace, charged with the slayings of his ex-wife Brandy Wallace and her friend, Billy Hassell, fled to Canada in fall 2006.

Mask and 22nd Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney held a press conference at the new jail Friday to answer questions about Wallace’s return to Saline County from Canada, where he fled last fall before facing trial in the deaths of his ex-wife, Brandy Wallace, and her friend, Billy Hassell.
Larry McCallister, warrants officer with the Saline County Sheriff’s Depart-ment, and Detective Brett Carpenter of the Benton Police Department, retrieved  Wallace, 41, from Canadian authorities at approximately 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport in Texas.
Due to the Canadian border officials not having jurisdiction in the United States the officers had to board the plane to take custody of Wallace.
    The officers from Saline County arrived in Benton around 10:45 p.m. Thursday and Wallace was taken to the Saline County Detention Center.
    Wallace will be arraigned before Circuit Judge Gary Arnold at the Saline County Courthouse in Benton on the new charges Tuesday or Wednesday, according to Casady.
    Wallace was being detained on immigration status in Canada.
He had been scheduled for trial Oct. 6 in Benton on the murder charges stemming from the June 25 slayings of Brandy Wallace and Hassell, both of Benton. He was arrested Oct. 5 in a motel room at Longview, Alberta — about 50 miles southwest of Calgary — after fleeing while being questioned at the Calgary airport when he first entered the country.
    The defendant is being held without bond, Bush said.
    Hot Springs attorney Q. Byrum Hurst is representing Wallace.
    Before Wallace fled to avoid his capital murder trial in October, prosecutors had been pursuing the death penalty as a possible sentence; however, this possibility was eliminated in the agreement to extradite Wallace back to this county.
    Canadian officials refused to deport Wallace unless he would no longer be subject to the death penalty and Casady agreed to the condition.
    Canada has a policy of not extraditing fugitives to a country where  the person could face possible execution.
    “Obviously, this is not the result that either the families of the victims or I wanted, but bringing him back to face the charges here is of paramount importance both to me and to the families ... ,” Casady said.
    Casady said Thursday that Canadian officials had ordered Wallace’s deportation. He had been held at the Calgary Remand Centre since his capture in Canada.
    He allegedly admitted to Canadian officials that he shot his ex-wife and Hassell, but claims he did so in self-defense.
    He also reportedly told his Canadian attorneys that he fears he will not receive a fair trial in this county because he contends he was “set up” for the homicides.
    Wallace was free on $500,000 bond when he left the United States on Sept. 17, taking a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. Authorities said Wallace did not return on the cruise ship, but flew back to the United States, visiting several cities before eventually taking a flight to Calgary.
    After he fled, his mother, Betty Abbott, 60, and stepfather, Bill Abbott, 74, both of Paron, were arrested and charged in aiding his flight.
    The Abbots were held without bond for a time, which reportedly prompted Wallace to telephone Saline County authorities. Officials were able to trace the call to Wallace’s motel room in Longview, and he was arrested soon afterward.
    The Abbots face charges of hindering apprehension.