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TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A lawyer for a man charged with sexually assaulting campers in Wyoming decades ago said Tuesday that the 94-year-old is near death in northern Michigan and may not make it to the weekend.
Quoting doctors, Anders Gillis said that William Bricker might live as long as two weeks but could die within 48 hours. Bricker, who has acute heart failure and cognitive impairment, was to be examined by a mental health professional in the Traverse City area to determine whether he understands that Wyoming wants to extradite him.
"His health is continuing to deteriorate," Gillis told The Associated Press by telephone. "He's unable to place any weight on his feet. We're uncertain if he knows his own identity."
Bricker is in hospice care.
"He's mentally not there," Gillis said. "The body's there, but he's cognitively gone."
Bricker is accused of molesting children at the Teton Valley Ranch Camp in the 1960s and 1980s. Bricker was a volunteer at the Boy Scouts and summer ranch camp in Teton County, Wyoming.
Gillis said the case "is going to be a moot point. His doctor told us at most we can expect him to live another two weeks, but that it is highly probable that he will die within the next 48 hours."
Gillis said he met with the judge and prosecutor Tuesday afternoon about ways to have Bricker undergo a mental evaluation at home. A plan to do that is expected soon, Gillis said.
Wyoming is seeking to have the former camp counselor and gym teacher sent from Michigan to face charges of immoral acts with a child and immoral or indecent acts. The alleged sexual abuse back to 1962, 1968 and 1985.
Wyoming officials say they began building a case against Bricker this year, after receiving pages of blog notes indicating possible "immoral and indecent acts with children in the late 1960s and early 1970s."
Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder have been trying to speed up the extradition.
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