Netherlands drops extradition request for UK celeb over 1988 murder claim

The Dutch authorities decided to withdraw an extradition request for Eggheads star CJ de Mooi. The request was based on claims De Mooi makes in his autobiography about killing an armed mugger in Amsterdam in 1988, the Daily Mail reports.

In his book De Mooi, real name Jospeh Connagh, writes that he while living on the streets of Amsterdam in 1988 he was faced by a mugger armed with a knife. He knocked out the mugger, threw him in the canal and left the scene without informing the police. "I fuly suspect I killed him." he wrote.

An European Arrest Warrant was issued for him in May, but the Dutch authorities decided to withdraw it. They did add that they still want De Mooi to cooperate in questioning, but this can happen in the United Kingdom.

"Towards the end of last week a letter was received from the Dutch authorities responding to questions from the Crown Prosecution Service", British prosecutor Rachael Scott said to the newspaper. "It addressed two heads, whether there was a domestic arrest warrant in the Netherlands, an essential requirement for a warrant, and secondly whether a decision had been made to charge Mr. Connagh. The response to this set out that no, there was no domestic arrest warrant and he was not being charged."