ATLANTA, Feb. 2 -- An Atlanta man indicted for the double homicide of his wife and a friend was back in Georgia Friday after giving up his two-month fight against extradition from New York. Lewis Joyner of Peachtree City was flown to Atlanta Thursday evening and remained incarcerated in the Fulton County Jail without bond pending his arraignment next week.
Joyner, 48, had been held in New York on charges of drug possession, criminal trespass and resisting arrest pending his extradition. He had flown to New York Nov. 17, three days after his wife, Ruby, 43, and their friend, Halima Jones, 40, were last seen. He never informed authorities his wife was missing. The women's bodies were found Nov. 21 inside Jones' van which was parked at Hartsfield International Airport. A medical examiner's report said Joyner's wife died of a blunt trauma to the head complicated by strangulation, and Jones died of a gunshot wound to the head. Joyner's newly hired attorney, Steve Sadow, said his client will plead not guilty. Sadow said Jones was killed because she was having an affair with Joyner. 'The facts will show that Ruby Joyner killed Miss Jones and that, in self-defense, Lewis Joyner scuffled with Ruby Joyner, which resulted in her death,' said Sadow. Joyner, arrested in Harlem Nov. 29 after a struggle with police on the roof of a high-rise building, had fought extradition unless approximately $20,000 seized from his checking account was released. Joyner's assets had been frozen after he was charged with selling cocaine and marijuana.
