Suspect in Fountain Valley Slayings to Fight Extradition : Courts: Douglas Frederick Stanley wants to stay in Colorado, where he was arrested July 11. A warrant signed by Gov. Wilson will be needed to bring him back.

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. —  A Westminster man accused of killing his sister-in-law and her employee at a Fountain Valley embroidery shop earlier this month opted Tuesday to fight extradition and stay in Colorado as long as he can.

Douglas Frederick Stanley, 57, wearing maroon jail clothes with his hands chained to his waist, sat quietly during the five-minute hearing before Mesa County District Judge Chuck Buss. Through his lawyer, he informed the judge he will “formally contest extradition.”

Buss set the hearing for Aug. 10 but said California authorities may request a continuance if they cannot put the proper paperwork together by then. A warrant signed by California Gov. Pete Wilson must be transmitted to Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, who will forward it to the court.

Buss set no bond, so Stanley will continue to be held in Mesa County Jail.

“He’s charged with two counts of homicide, so we’re not requesting bond,” public defender David Eisner told Buss. “I see no reason to go through that exercise in futility.”

In court, Stanley showed no signs of the hostility and anger attributed to him by acquaintances and authorities in Fountain Valley, where he allegedly shot his sister-in-law, Joyce Stanley, 52, and Terry Vasquez, 41, of Santa Ana on July 8.

“He’s been awfully quiet,” Eisner said after the hearing. “What will happen now is a paperwork zoo. They’ve got to go through the procedures with the governors’ offices and if they make a mistake, we nit-pick the technicalities. But ultimately he has to go back.”

Fountain Valley police are continuing to investigate the shootings and Stanley’s background.

“I think we have a pretty overwhelming case against the guy right now,” Police Capt. Bill de Nisi said in an interview last week. “He was there at the (murder) scene. He was seen leaving the scene. He was found in close proximity of the vehicle taken from the scene. And he was found in possession of the weapon that will more than likely turn out to be the gun used in the crime.”

Earlier investigation indicated that Stanley has a fascination with guns, a hot temper and a history of making threats against family members.

Douglas Stanley’s brother, Charles, called police after he drove up to the business and found a woman staggering outside the front entrance, apparently shot. Doug Berry, owner of a neighboring business, Trade Press, quoted Charles Stanley as saying at the scene, “My brother went nuts and shot . . . “

Police theorized that Stanley, after fleeing Joyce Stanley’s shop, headed for Wyoming, where he had lived and worked as a ranch hand until moving to California a little more than a year ago.

Police mounted an extensive search. It ended in the early morning hours of July 11, after Colorado state troopers found an abandoned and battered Buick LeSabre in the little Mesa County town of DeBeque, 30 miles east of Grand Junction. They put out a bulletin.

Within minutes, Police Officer Jerry Beers saw a man answering Stanley’s description sitting on a bench near an Interstate 70 rest stop in Parachute, about 12 miles east of DeBeque. He said he became suspicious because the man was overly eager to explain why he was there, saying he was waiting for a bus.

Beers met up with a state trooper and a Garfield County deputy sheriff to confront Stanley. When the suspect stood up, a gun fell out of his pants leg, authorities said. He was quickly arrested. After complaining of chest pains, Stanley was taken to Claggett Memorial Hospital in Rifle for observation and later booked into Mesa County Jail in Grand Junction.