Manhunt for murder suspect raises death penalty issue

The international manhunt for reality TV star Ryan Jenkins, a Calgary man suspected of killing and dismembering his ex-wife in San Diego before fleeing to Canada, could turn a spotlight on the Conservative government's views surrounding the death penalty.

If Jenkins is captured in Canada and faces extradition to California for murder in the death of swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore, the Canadian government is obligated under a 2001 Supreme Court ruling to first seek assurances from the U.S. -- except in "exceptional circumstances" -- that he will not face the death penalty for his alleged crime if sent back across the border.

That means Jenkins's fate could turn on whether gruesome details released Thursday by U.S. authorities -- that Fiore's teeth and fingers were removed by her killer, apparently to prevent her identification -- constitute an "exceptional circumstance" allowing Canada to extradite Jenkins without obtaining a no-execution guarantee from California prosecutors.

The death penalty question is already being raised in the U.S. On Thursday, Farad Emami of the Orange County district attorney's office told U.S. reporters her office had not yet discussed whether to pursue the death penalty once Jenkins is apprehended.

The obligation to seek a no-execution promise from the U.S. has been a contentious issue in the past for Conservative politicians. At the time of the 2001 Supreme Court ruling, then-Conservative justice critic Peter MacKay complained that the judges were "effectively rewriting" Canada's extradition laws, "without one word of debate from elected officials."

The court was ruling on the case of Glen Sebastian Burns and Atif Ahmad Rafay, two B.C. men accused in the beating deaths of Rafay's parents and sister in Washington state. The judgment ensured that Burns and Rafay -- who fled to Vancouver after the 1994 murders -- were sent for trial in the U.S only after Canada was promised they would not be executed if convicted.

They were found guilty and are serving life sentences in the U.S.

Since coming to power in 2006, the Conservative government has abided by the court ruling in seeking no-execution assurances before extradition.