Police Return Slaying Suspect to Jail in L.A. : Crime: Douglas Oliver Kelly was apprehended in Texas in the September death of Sara Weir.

A Valley Village man arrested at the international border in Texas last week was returning to the United States after killing a 19-year-old woman in his apartment in September and fleeing to Mexico, police said Friday.

Douglas Oliver Kelly, 35, appeared Friday in Van Nuys Municipal Court to face charges of murdering Sara Weir nearly three months ago, but his arraignment was delayed so an attorney could be appointed to represent him.

Kelly is charged in a potential death penalty case with stabbing Weir 34 times in the chest before fleeing with her Ford Bronco.

“It is our belief that after the crime, he went to Ensenada and sold the vehicle,” Los Angeles Police Detective Steve Hooks said.

Hooks and Detective Mike Coffey brought Kelly to Los Angeles Thursday night after Kelly waived an extradition hearing in Texas, officials said. He was arrested Nov. 24 by U. S. Customs agents as he attempted to enter the United States at a border crossing in Laredo, Tex., Hooks said, clarifying earlier statements by other police officials.

When detained by federal agents during a routine stop, the fugitive presented a Florida driver’s license, Hooks said. This proved to be a mistake because Kelly was wanted both in California for Weir’s death and in Florida for a 1991 rape. Kelly had been convicted in 1988 of rape in Florida, police and prosecutors said.

About a week before the death of Weir, Kelly was arrested on suspicion of beating his live-in girlfriend, Michelle Theard, police said. But he eluded the Florida arrest warrant by giving a slightly different birth date than the one on his Florida driver’s license and quickly pleading guilty, spending less than two days in custody, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the different birthday prevented them from discovering the outstanding arrest warrant.

Weir’s naked body was found Sept. 15 by Theard in Kelly’s apartment in the 4900 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard.

Weir, who was raised in Thousand Oaks, was reported missing Sept. 7.

Weir’s decomposing body was riddled with stab wounds that investigators said were caused by a pair of scissors. Los Angeles detectives interviewed Kelly in Texas after his arrest there, but Hooks said he could not reveal any details of that conversation.

The detective also declined to say how Weir got to Kelly’s apartment, whether she was abducted or went there voluntarily.

Police have said that Weir hired Kelly as a personal trainer after meeting him at a Burbank gym where he worked.

Kelly is scheduled to appear in court again Friday for his arraignment. He is being held in County Jail without bail.