Court extradites Wasilla woman in infant’s death

WASILLA – The way is now cleared for the extradition of a Wasilla woman accused of killing her newborn son in Colorado.

Morgan Hite, 22, appeared at the Palmer Courthouse Monday before Magistrate David Zwink. Shackled to two other prisoners, Hite had little to say and let Zwink do most of the talking.

“You have the right to challenge the legality of your arrest in this state,” Zwink told Hite, adding, “I can give you five, maybe 10 days to do that if you like.”

Hite’s mumbled response indicated she waives those rights.

Zwink also went over the details of the warrant Gov. Sarah Palin signed consenting to Hite’s extradition to Colorado. He reminded her, as he had in previous hearings, that the murder charge she faces in Colorado could potentially carry the death penalty.

Hite didn’t change her mind. Zwink said Hite would be handed over to Colorado law enforcement at the first possible opportunity.

Hite was arrested at the Alaska State Troopers’ Palmer post May 6 after officers from Grand Junction, Colo., came looking for her.

According to a police affidavit quoted in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, Hite told investigators she hid her pregnancy from family members and gave birth in secret at a neighbor’s home. She said she wrapped the baby in a plastic bag and hid the bundle in a closet.

In Colorado, Hite was living with her father and stepmother, the Sentinel reported. The family discovered the body two months later, on April 29. Hite also told investigators that the baby was skin was blue and he was not breathing or moving when born.

But the coroner’s reports show the baby was born alive, the newspaper reported.

After giving birth, Hite made her way to Wasilla, where she is from. The Colorado investigators followed her here and worked out of the Alaska State Troopers’ Palmer post. After a couple of interviews, troopers arrested Hite on a Colorado warrant, trooper Sgt. Craig Allen said.

Hite had declined to give herself freely to extradition at her first hearing May 7, saying she wished to speak to a lawyer. In order for a fugitive to be extradited from Alaska, the governor must first sign a warrant, which she did May 22.

When she returns to Grand Junction, Hite will face a first-degree murder charge.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.