Court extends Sheinbein’s stay

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court has extended the detention of a Maryland teenager charged with murder.

During the next two weeks, the Justice Ministry is slated to decide whether to honor a formal extradition request for Samuel Sheinbein submitted last month by American officials.

Sheinbein, 17, fled to Israel in September, shortly after the body of 19-year-old Alfred Tello was found in a Maryland suburb.

Maryland police suspect that Sheinbein and another suspect killed Tello and dismembered his body with a saw.

Sheinbein hoped to escape trial in the United States by claiming Israeli citizenship through his father, who was born here and left in 1950.

Under Israeli law, a citizen cannot be extradited for a crime committed in another country.

But after pressure from the United States, Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein recently stated that the citizenship law does not apply to Sheinbein.