Triple-murder suspect may be returned by March

Tuesday, February 15th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

PRYOR, Okla. (AP) -- A Chouteau man accused of killing three people in three states may not be returned to Oklahoma until March to face prosecution, state officials said. Steven Ray Thacker, 29, is being held in Dyer County, Tenn., where prosecutors alleged he ended a three-state killing spree with the death of a tow-truck driver.

Thacker is accused of first killing Laci Dawn Hill, 25, of Bixby in December before fleeing to Missouri, where he faces murder charges in the death of a restaurant supervisor Jan. 1. On Monday, a Tennessee grand jury also indicted Thacker in the Jan. 2 stabbing death of a tow truck driver.

Tennessee prosecutors agreed to let Oklahoma prosecute Thacker first. But processing the agreement has taken longer than expected, said John Cox, a spokesman for Gov. Frank Keating. The governor's office is waiting for extradition paperwork from Mayes County where Thacker is charged, Cox said. "It's supposed to be on the way, but we don't have it in our hands yet," Cox said. "Until we do, we can't really proceed with what we need to send to Tennessee."

Dyer County, Tenn., District Attorney General Phil Bivens said the paperwork should have been done weeks ago. Thacker was indicted in Dyersburg on one count of first-degree, premeditated murder and one count of first-degree felony murder. He is scheduled for arraignment Feb. 22, Bivens said.

Thacker has not waived extradition and has spoken to Oklahoma attorneys who have visited him in Tennessee, Bivens said. "Any extradition doesn't take an agreement," he said. "You just have to show, in a normal case, that there's a governor's warrant. In this case, it's a governor's agreement that he goes back to Oklahoma." Mayes County District Attorney Gene Haynes has said he will seek the death penalty against Thacker.