American woman accused of killing her two children extradited to US from UK | US crime

An American woman accused of killing her two children after a judge in Colorado demanded she comply with a custody order has been extradited to the United States to face charges from England, where she was detained.

Kimberlee Singler was arrested in Kensington, West London, by officers from the UK’s National Crime Agency in December 2023, a week after her nine-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son were found dead in their home in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Singler’s 11-year-old daughter escaped with injuries. Singler had superficial stab wounds and told police a man entered the apartment and attacked the family. The surviving daughter initially supported Singler’s story but eventually told an investigator that her mother had told her God made her do it, according to U.K. court documents.

Police began searching for Singler on December 26, 2023. Singler was found and arrested four days later in London’s upscale Chelsea district. It is unknown why he went there.

Singler, 37, fought extradition and denied assaulting his children. Defense lawyer Edward Fitzgerald in London argued that Singler should not be extradited because he would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted of first-degree murder in Colorado, a violation of European human rights law. Fitzgerald represented Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in his long fight against extradition to face espionage charges in the United States.

Singler does not yet have a U.S.-based attorney representing him in court documents, according to the court clerk’s office.

A judge rejected Singler’s appeal in January 2025, and his appeal was denied in November.

Singler was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of the two children. The family was staying with Singler’s mother during the custody battle, but she was away at the time, according to court documents in the United Kingdom.

Singler also faces one count of attempted murder, three counts of child abuse and one count of assault.

The children’s bodies were found by police shortly after midnight on December 19, 2023, according to UK court documents. Police found no footprints in the snow leading to the porch, where an intruder entered through an unlocked door and attacked her, causing her to lose consciousness, Singler said.

In ruling against Singler at Westminster magistrates’ court in January, Judge John Zani told police her ex-husband “had previously fantasized about killing his family, the children’s father was always trying to plot against her, get her arrested and take the children away from her”.

Police said GPS records showed her ex-husband was driving a truck about 80 miles (130 km) away at the time of the murders.

The day before the children’s bodies were found, a judge in Colorado ordered Singler to comply with an earlier order allowing the father to have custody of the children during the holidays, according to state court records. She was told to either give the children to her ex-husband alone or bring them to the hearing on December 20, 2023 to give custody.

On the day of the hearing, Singler stated that she and her children were attacked and two of her children were killed, and asked the judge to postpone the hearing. She asked for time to process the pain of losing her children and “to get myself together after this incident.”