A woman from Colorado, accused of killing two of her children amid a custody battle with her former husband two years ago, has been extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States to face charges, authorities confirmed on Tuesday.
The District Attorney of Colorado Springs, Michael Allen, announced the return of 37-year-old Kimberlee Singler, who faces multiple charges, including two counts of first-degree murder. Her initial court appearance is expected in the coming days.
Singler was apprehended in London in December 2023, just days after the bodies of her 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son were discovered in their Colorado Springs residence. Her 11-year-old daughter was also injured but survived the ordeal. According to UK court documents, the surviving child later revealed to investigators that Singler claimed she was compelled by God to commit the act.
Initially, Singler, who had minor knife injuries, told the police that an intruder was responsible for the crime, leading authorities to initially perceive her as a victim.
At first, the surviving daughter supported Singler’s account. However, police moved to arrest Singler on December 26, 2023, after the child altered her statement. By then, Singler had fled. She was located four days later in the affluent Chelsea district of London and taken into custody. The reasons behind her presence in London remain unclear.
During a news conference, Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez commented, “Today marks a significant milestone in this criminal investigation. Singler is accused of committing an unimaginable crime. These actions have profoundly affected our community, and our thoughts are with the victims.”
Allen said Singler will be held without bond at least until a preliminary hearing on whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed toward trial. That hearing typically is scheduled within 30 days of an initial court appearance, with some exceptions, he said.
Allen said the surviving child, now 13, is expected to be a key witness at trial. He otherwise declined to discuss details of the prosecution’s case beyond procedural steps.
The FBI and Colorado Springs police traveled to London to take custody of Singler, who fought extradition and denied attacking her children.
Her London defense attorney, Edward Fitzgerald, argued that she should not be extradited because if convicted of first-degree murder in Colorado, she would face a mandatory sentence of life without parole – a sentence that violates European human rights law.
Fitzgerald represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in his long fight against extradition to face espionage charges in the U.S.
Singler did not yet have a U.S.-based attorney listed as representing her in court documents, according to the court clerk’s office.
A judge rejected Singler’s challenge in January 2025, and her bid for an appeal was denied in November.
Singler also faces one count of attempted murder, three counts of child abuse and one count of assault.
According to U.K. court documents, the children’s bodies were found by police shortly after midnight on Dec. 19, 2023. Police said they found no footprints in the snow leading to a patio where Singler said an intruder entered through an unlocked door and attacked her, causing her to lose consciousness.
She told police that her ex-husband “had previously dreamt about killing his family, that the children’s father was always trying to ‘frame her’ and ‘get her arrested’ and to have the kids taken away from her,” Judge John Zani said in a January ruling against Singler in Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Police said GPS records showed that her ex-husband was driving a truck about 80 miles (130 kilometers) away at the time of the killings.
The family had been staying with Singler’s mother during the custody battle, but the mother was away at the time, according to court documents in the U.K.
The day before the bodies were found, a judge in Colorado ordered Singler to comply with a previous order to allow the father to take custody of them for the holidays, according to state court records. She was told to either give the children to her ex-husband on her own or bring them to a court hearing Dec. 20, 2023, to exchange custody there.
On the day of the hearing, Singler asked the judge to delay it, saying in a motion that she and her children had been attacked and two of them were murdered. She asked for time to grieve and “gain my bearings after this incident.”
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