Keith Lees, 72, was flown from NSW to Queensland in the company of detectives after a Sydney court granted his extradition on Thursday over the death of Meaghan Louise Rose, 25, on the Sunshine Coast in 1997.
The Queensland Homicide Cold Case Investigation Team obtained an arrest warrant for Lees in July 2023 after he allegedly disappeared following a conversation with detectives in Victoria.
Meaghan Louise Rose's body was discovered at the base of Point Cartwright Cliffs at Mooloolaba. (HANDOUT/QUEENSLAND POLICE)
Lees was arrested on January 2 in a rural area northwest of Sydney and is scheduled to face Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday after spending the night in an adjacent police watch house.
Ms Rose's body was discovered on July 18, 1997 at the base of Point Cartwright Cliffs at Mooloolaba on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.
The disability and aged care nursing assistant had previously moved from Victoria to Queensland with Mr Lees, who was more than 20 years older than her.
The death was initially ruled a suicide, but investigators reopened the case in 2009 and a $500,000 reward for information was announced in June 2023.
In charges dropped by prosecutors on Thursday, NSW Police alleged Lees spent roughly 18 months evading an arrest warrant by using a fake identity.
Queensland detectives travelled to Victoria in June 2023 and spoke to Lees, before his car was found abandoned at Portland on the state's southwest coast the following day.
Lees was later spotted in Geelong and Shepparton in Victoria before being arrested in Dural in NSW.
Queensland Police have confirmed the $500,000 reward remains on offer for information that leads to a conviction for Ms Rose's murder.
"In addition to the reward, an appropriate indemnity from prosecution will be recommended for any accomplice, not being the person who actually committed the crime, who first gives such information," they said in a statement on Thursday.
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