American wanted for murder of socialite wife returns to Atlanta

<p>One of America's most wanted fugitives, James Vincent Sullivan, was returned by authorities Friday to the city where he is wanted for the 1987 murder of his socialite wife.</p><p>Sullivan arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and was immediately taken to the Fulton County Jail, said Erik Friedly, spokesman for the county district attorney's office.</p><p>Sullivan is expected to stand trial early next year for the death of his estranged wife, Lita. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.</p><p>Lita McClinton Sullivan, 35, was fatally shot at the doorway of her Buckhead townhouse Jan. 16, 1987, by a gunman carrying a box of pink roses. The killing occurred hours before a pre-trial hearing in a bitterly contested divorce with James Sullivan.</p><p>James Sullivan, a former Palm Beach, Fla., investor, is accused of arranging the murder. He was indicted on a murder charge by a Fulton County grand jury 11 years later, and was captured at a beach resort south of Bangkok in July 2002.</p><p>Thai police handed over Sullivan, 62, to U.S. authorities on Thursday, and he was put on the flight to the United States on Friday.</p><p>A former truck driver accused of being the trigger-man, Phillip Anthony Harwood, pleaded guilty in February last year to reduced charges in exchange for testimony against Sullivan.</p><p>Harwood, who was arrested in 1998, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Although Harwood admits being involved in the slaying, he denies being the gunman.</p>

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