The World - News from April 10, 1987

Australia’s High Court blocked the extradition of a former U.S. Marine cook wanted in the United States on charges of deserting during the Vietnam War. Former Pfc. Douglas Beane, 39, who fled to Australia 16 years ago, was arrested last December when he applied to the U.S. Embassy in Canberra for an American passport to visit his ailing father. The court ruled the arrest warrant invalid and said Beane had not committed any indictable offense. U.S. authorities said Beane was ordered to face a court-martial on charges of dealing in the black market, threatening to kill a fellow Marine and disobeying orders when he escaped from a psychiatric hospital in Vietnam.