Man accused in alleged Evansville killing-for-hire may not return to U.S. for months

EVANSVILLE – A Southern Indiana man arrested in Spain after police say he took part in an alleged Evansville killing-for-hire may not get extradited back to the United States for almost a year.

That’s the estimate Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers received when Samuel Steven Huggler, 27, was arrested in Valencia, Spain in January, she said Monday.

Huggler, formerly of Rockport, was initially charged with murder and a litany of other felonies in 2021 after police claimed he offered Evansville man Daniel Alvey, then 18, $5,000 to kill at least one member of Huggler’s family.

According to Alvey’s social media accounts, the two worked together at a local tree-trimming service.

EPD wrote in the probable cause affidavit that Alvey ultimately shot and killed 18-year-old Olivia Huggler – Samuel’s sister – and seriously injured two other family members at a home in the 800 block of Kirkwood Drive on Dec. 14, 2021. The family was carrying groceries from the garage when a gunman appeared wearing a camouflage ski mask, police wrote.

The case has taken several sharp turns since.

Last May, Alvey was sentenced to 45 years in prison after taking a plea deal on charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and two counts of attempted murder: all Level 1 felonies.

But despite being given immunity from further prosecution, he reportedly refused to answer questions about Samuel Huggler as his case wound through the courts, leading to the charges against Huggler being dismissed by former prosecutor Nicholas Hermann’s office.

Huggler then decamped for Andorra, a tiny country wedged in the mountains between Spain and France. Andorra is one of several countries with whom the U.S. doesn’t have an extradition treaty.

But on Jan. 18 of this year, Moers’ office decided to refile the charges. And when Huggler slipped over the border into Valencia, Spanish authorities arrested him.

But you won’t find Huggler in any local booking records. Nor will the refiling of his charges appear in public court documents, at least for now.

Moers said Monday that the case is sealed for “safety reasons.” Before Huggler’s arrest, they “obviously” didn’t want his warrant to be publicly listed. And as far as his return to the U.S., “he is still in Spain undergoing extradition procedures,” she said. “The estimate I have is about a year to extradite someone.

“… I have received correspondence that he would have some type of hearing within 90 days. That was about 45 days or so ago.”

According to her obituary, Olivia Huggler loved to sing and play guitar.

“Olivia was faithful, loyal and true to everything and everyone,” her obituary read. “She was strong and gentle. It is difficult to find the perfect words for a life so well-lived.”

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Man accused in Evansville killing may not return to U.S. for months