Cameron Mansell, the accused murderer of Perth millionaire Craig Puddy, will face a Western Australian court today on charges related to his death.
West Australian police were wary of legal "mumbo jumbo" and determined to get Cameron Mansell back home fast.
So much so that WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan instructed the pilots flying Mansell from Townsville to change their flight plans at the last minute.
After eventually getting the green light to extradite Mansell from Townsville to Perth on Wednesday, the police originally intended to stop over in Alice Springs before continuing on to WA the next day.
However, Mr O'Callaghan rang the pilots as they were about to about to take off from Townsville, urging them to try to make it back across the WA border.
"I said can you safely get over the border in Western Australia because I don't want to go through anymore legal mumbo jumbo," Mr O'Callaghan told Fairfax Radio on Thursday.
"They said: 'We can easily make Kalgoorlie', so they did."
On Thursday, Mansell, 38, was charged in Perth with the murder of his former business partner, Perth millionaire Craig Puddy who disappeared on May 3.
After a two-week nationwide manhunt, the bar manager was found on the other side of the country hiding out in Paluma National Park near Townsville.
His extradition was delayed for a week after lawyers argued the initial warrant for his arrest was invalid, a claim a Queensland magistrate eventually upheld.
The police commissioner admitted a police officer did not sign part of an affidavit, which made the warrant invalid.
He said police did present a fresh, legitimate warrant, but that was not immediately accepted.
Mr O'Callaghan said the process had been frustrating and he had ordered a review into how warrants are dealt with in WA.
"We have had our lawyers look at the warrant forms we use in WA and even they have different interpretations on how they should be filled out," he said.
"I have spoken to the chief magistrate this morning to say we need to get together to make sure everyone understands how these warrants work.
"So there will be a review by both police in WA and the chief magistrate to sort this out."
