Bosnian fugitive captured in Minnesota

(AP) - A 56-year-old Bosnian national who fled his country after killing another man in 1992 has been captured in Minnesota and will be sent back to his homeland, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Monday.

U.S. Magistrate Franklin Noel ruled Thursday that Zdravko Veletic will be extradited to Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.

According to court documents, Veletic's attorney said Veletic would seek a new trial if returned to Bosnia.

Veletic was arrested without incident on Oct. 31 at his home in Lino Lakes, a Twin Cities suburb, where he lived for seven years.

Anoka County property records show he and his wife, Ljeposava, bought the home in November 2001. State records show his wife died last year at age 50.

A U.S. Attorney's Office affidavit says the murder happened after Veletic and his family left their Sarajevo home at the start of the war in 1992 and went to Kalinovik. On June 14, 1992, Veletic got into an argument with Mijo Bozalo. Officials said Bozalo cursed Veletic's mother, then Veletic drew a pistol and shot Bozalo to death.

Veletic fled, and was convicted in a 1997 trial held in his absence.

Court documents did not set a date for extradition.

One of Veltic's neighbors in Minnesota described him as "one of the nicest people I have ever met."

"I would never have imagined this in a million years," Laurie Showers told the Star Tribune.

Showers said Veletic was a construction worker who had to quit working because of a back injury.

She said Veletic's wife died of cancer. "He really struggled with the loss," Showers said.

The Veletics have two married daughters and three grandchildren, Showers said. She described Veletic as "a very good grandpa."

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)