COLUMBUS — A woman who authorities say is a convicted killer was extradited Wednesday to Tennessee, where she is wanted for escaping from a prison 32 years ago.

        Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Alan Travis said during a hearing he had no choice but to extradite the woman who has been living in Columbus under the name Tonya McCartor.

        Authorities say Ms. McCartor is really Margo Freshwater, 53, and arrested her May 19 in Columbus. Ms. Freshwater was convicted of killing a liquor store clerk in Memphis, Tenn., on Dec. 6, 1966, and sentenced to 99 years in prison. She escaped from prison in 1970.

        The woman, who was stoic during her hearing, left the Franklin County Jail at 11:15 a.m. in the custody of Tennessee authorities, said sheriff's Maj. Michael Herrell.

        The woman's attorney, Richard Piatt, said it is a case of mistaken identity and is challenging fingerprint evidence. He said he planned to appeal the extradition because he said the judge said during his ruling that there was conflicting evidence about the woman's identity.

        “I know who she is well enough to know she did not do what they say she did 32 years ago,” the woman's husband, Daryl McCartor, said after the hearing.

        Mr. McCartor said that after hearing the evidence, he believes his wife is Ms. Freshwater. However, he said he knew nothing about his wife's past.

        “It doesn't change the way I feel about my wife,” he said.

        A forensic scientist for the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation testified Wednesday that fingerprints taken from the woman matched fingerprints taken from Ms. Freshwater after her arrest in Tennessee.

        “I concluded that Margo Freshwater and Tonya Lynn McCartor were the one and same person,” said scientist Johnetta Hardin.

        Judge Travis said he had to extradite the woman because there is conflicting evidence about her identity. Ms. Freshwater's family had her declared dead in 1984 to settle her grandmother's estate.

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