Mexico judge orders US producer to stand trial

CANCUN, Mexico (AP) — A Mexican judge on Wednesday ordered a U.S. reality television producer to stand trial in the killing of his wife at a Cancun resort in 2010, and a defense lawyer said his client fainted when he heard the ruling.

Quintana Roo state prosecutor Ludwin Vivas Arjona said the judge ruled there is enough evidence to try former "Survivor" producer Bruce Beresford-Redman.

An attorney representing Beresford-Redman, Jaime Cancino, described his client as "distraught" and said he passed out when the judge announced his decision.

Cancino said he would appeal the judge's order for a trial.

"It's something very strange because there is no evidence in the case," the lawyer said in brief remarks to reporters outside the courtroom.

The producer has said he is innocent. If convicted, he could face between 12 and 30 years in prison.

The body of Monica Beresford-Redman was found in a sewer cistern at a swank resort during a family vacation. The couple had gone there with their young children in an attempt to save their marriage after she learned her husband was cheating on her.

The defendant was flown to Cancun last week escorted by nearly a dozen Mexican agents.

The U.S. Marshals Service turned the Emmy-nominated producer over to Mexican federal police after State Department officials signed a warrant clearing his extradition.

Beresford-Redman opted in December not to appeal a U.S. court ruling upholding his extradition.

Part of the evidence in the case includes statements from hotel guests who said they heard loud arguing and cries of distress coming from the couple's room on the night Monica Beresford-Redman went missing.

The producer's lawyers have said that the noises came from Beresford-Redman and his children playing loud games throughout the night and add that there isn't any forensic evidence that he killed his wife.