By Matt Simonette

Staff writer

Chicago police announced at a news conference Aug. 14 that the man who they believe killed loop dermatologist Dr. David Cornbleet in October is being detained by French authorities.

Hans R. Peterson, 29, an Internet gambler, allegedly believed that Accutane prescribed by the physician in 2002 caused him to become impotent. In retribution, he allegedly stabbed Cornbleet repeatedly and bound him with duct tape.

Peterson turned himself in to authorities Aug. 6 on the Caribbean island of St. Martin and allegedly confessed to the crime.

“We’ve known definitively that it was him for a couple of months now,” said Jon Cornbleet, Dr. Cornbleet’s son. Cornbleet said that his father had treated Peterson just once in 2002, and no further contact between the two men has been established.

Cornbleet added, “We’ve talked to drug companies and doctors. Nobody said that Accutane makes you impotent.”

In the 10 months since his father’s murder, Cornbleet and his family utilized a number of resources to gather information leading to the killer, such as a MySpace page and security footage from Dr. Cornbleet’s building, which the family paid to have digitally enhanced. The killing was also profiled on “America’s Most Wanted.”

The case is now complicated further by Peterson’s having told French authorities that he is a French national, according to the Chicago Tribune. The French do not extradite citizens to countries where they face criminal charges that could lead to capital punishment.

Cook County Asst. State’s Atty. Bob Milan told the Tribune that Peterson’s status has yet to be determined.

“I didn’t think we’d have to face an extradition,” Cornbleet said. “(Peterson’s) lived in America his whole life. He needs to be tried where he committed this crime.”

Cornbleet added that the family is trying to contact politicians to ensure that Peterson’s extradition goes through.

“We’re making a huge effort,” he said. “We’re writing to our senators. We want him to stand trial for this here.”

On Aug. 20 U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Barack Obama, both Illinois Democrats, sent a joint later to Chargé d'Affaires François Rivasseau at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C, urging Peterson’s extradition.

Durbin and Obama wrote, “It appears that Mr. Peterson has sought to claim French citizenship—subsequent to the alleged commission of a heinous crime—in an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution in the United States. Dr. Cornbleet's family, the people of Illinois and the United States criminal justice system have a strong and compelling interest in seeing Mr. Peterson face trial in the United States.”