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Officials in Salem County, N.J. confirmed Friday that they had received extradition papers from this state for Clifton Eugene Spencer, 31, of Columbia, who was indicted April 2 by the Dare County grand jury for the murder of Manteo waitress Stacey Stanton.

According to Lt. John Cooksey in the Salem County prosecutor’s office, Spencer is being held in the Salem County jail pending an extradition hearing. No date has been set for the hearing, but Cooksey said if North Carolina is successful, he should be returned to this state within 45 days.

Miss Stanton was killed in her Manteo apartment on Ananias Dare Street February 3, and Spencer was pinpointed as a major suspect soon after that.

When the murder occurred, Spencer was wanted in New Jersey on a cocaine charge. He was picked up on that charge and held in the Tyrrell County jail where Dare County law officers questioned him on Monday after the early Saturday morning slaying.

To see the scans of the archived newspaper page where this article appeared, click here.

READ MORE ARTICLES RELATED TO THE STANTON CASE HERE.