Bogdan Rudenko
A former Charlotte Checkers hockey player told a Colorado judge Tuesday he no longer would fight extradition to North Carolina to face charges of murdering a man in Stallings.
That means Bogdan Rudenko, 32, of south Charlotte, will be returned to North Carolina within 10 days, said Shelly LaGrill, with the district attorney's office for El Paso and Teller counties in Colorado.
Rudenko was arrested in a Colorado Springs, Colo., hotel early Christmas morning following a standoff with police that lasted several hours. In a subsequent court hearing, the south Charlotte man fought extradition.
"We are looking forward to bringing him back to our jurisdiction," Union County District Attorney John Snyder said. He also said it was too soon to say whether his office would seek the death penalty.
Rudenko is charged with fatally shooting 32-year-old Yuriy Anatolevich Kharitonov, also known as Yuriy Kharutokov, who had no permanent address.
Like Rudenko, Kharitonov was from the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan and had sparingly played minor league hockey for five seasons between 1998 and 2008 in Kazakhstan and Russia.
Rudenko spent some of the 2004-05 season with the Checkers, part of an 18-year minor league career with 14 teams, nearly all in North America. He had played part of two seasons in Colorado Springs about a decade ago. Rudenko last played in 2008-09 with the Twin City Cyclones of Winston-Salem.
Kharitonov's body was found in a wooded area outside an auto body shop in the 13600 block of East Independence Boulevard on Dec. 20. Police had responded to a call about a break-in at the shop near the Indian Trail border.
Authorities have said Rudenko and Kharitonov were "associates" but have not discussed a motive in the killing. Police believe a handgun was used to deliver the fatal shot.
After Rudenko is back in North Carolina, he will appear before a judge and have the opportunity to get a court-appointed lawyer or retain his own lawyer, Snyder said.
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