FBI captures Longo in Mexico.

Byline: DAVID STEVES and LARRY BACON The Register-Guard

A court hearing is set for today in Texas to determine whether Christian Michael Longo will voluntarily return to Oregon to face charges of killing his wife and three children last month and dumping their bodies along the Oregon Coast.

Authorities arrested Longo, 27, on Sunday after a tip from a vacationer who met him at a youth hostel while in Mexico.

Publicity from Longo's being placed on the FBI's most wanted list Friday prompted the woman to go to the agency's Web site, where she recognized him, officials said.

Bernice Barnett, the district attorney in Lincoln County, where the murders occurred, said today's hearing in Harris County District Court will determine whether Longo is going to fight extradition to Oregon.

Barnett said she already has decided whether to seek the death penalty for Longo but said it would be inappropriate to make that decision public until after he appears in court in Oregon with his attorney.

No trial date will be set until after a grand jury indictment or a preliminary hearing is held, she said.

If Longo decides to fight extradition, she said, it could take a few weeks to return him to Oregon; if he doesn't, Lincoln County officers are ready to return him to the state at the earliest opportunity.

The bodies of MaryJane Longo, 34, and the Longos' 2-year-old daughter, Madison, were found in Yaquina Bay in Newport on Dec. 27. The body of their son, 4-year-old Zachary, was found Dec. 19 in an inlet at Alsea Bay in Waldport. The body of his sister, Sadie Ann, 3, was found nearby on Dec. 22.

Authorities haven't released the causes of death but have said the four were victims of violent homicide.

Special Agent Charles Mathews, who oversees FBI operations in Oregon, said at a news conference Monday in Portland that Longo was staying in what was described as a grass hut in the small coastal town of Tulum when he was arrested by FBI agents and about 20 Mexican police officers.

Lincoln County law enforcement officials had been concerned that Longo's flight to Mexico might restrict their ability to seek the death penalty should he be convicted of the killings. In the past, Mexico has allowed the extradition of murder suspects to the United States only on condition that they not be subjected to the death penalty.

But Mathews said the death penalty option appears to remain open because Longo left Mexico voluntarily with FBI agents. And Barnett said no agreements were made with the Mexican government regarding what penalty Longo might face for the seven counts of aggravated murder filed in Lincoln County Circuit Court.

The FBI credited a Montreal woman with providing the tip that led officials to Longo. The woman, whom the FBI refused to identify, had contacted their headquarters the day Longo was put on the most wanted list.

The FBI announcement that day included the fact that Longo had taken a flight to Cancun, Mexico, from San Francisco on Dec. 27. The woman told authorities she had vacationed in Cancun, also arriving there Dec. 27.

She said she'd met a man at a youth hostel who called himself "Brad," and later "Mike." When she checked the FBI's Web site after returning home, she recognized "Brad"/"Mike" as Longo, Mathews said.

Based on the tip, and additional information received at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, investigators went to the Hostel Mexico in Cancun, where they were told Longo had left Jan. 7 for Tulum, a small resort town about 60 miles to the south.

Longo, who had a history of committing petty crimes in Michigan and Ohio, abruptly left the Cancun hostel as guests there began discovering that their money had been stolen, the FBI said.

When apprehended, he was staying at a beach camp under the name Michael Longo. He was sharing accommodations with someone who wasn't aware that he was a murder suspect on the run, Mathews said.

When police approached Longo, he confirmed his identity and agreed to be returned to the United States on Monday morning, he said.

The rapid turnaround in the case, with an arrest coming only two days after the most wanted listing, was somewhat unusual, FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele said in Portland. "Certainly this is one of the quicker ones, but it's not terribly unusual once the publicity starts," she said.

Longo and his family moved to Oregon last summer, leaving a wake of arrest warrants and debts reportedly totaling $60,000.

Longo was twice identified by witnesses before he left the country late last month. Officials said he used a stolen credit card and identity from a Lincoln County man to buy the airline ticket he used to travel to Cancun.

MaryJane Longo's father, Jim Baker of Traverse City, Mich., said Monday he never suspected Christian Longo would harm his wife and children. ``I never heard him raise his voice once to her,'' he said.

Baker said he was impressed with Longo when the couple married in 1993. He dressed well and seemed mature, even though he was eight years younger than MaryJane, he said. The couple met at a Jehovah's Witness church. Baker's first wife converted to the religion after they divorced 30 years ago, and MaryJane was raised in the church, he said.

Baker, a Methodist, said his relationship with his daughter became more distant in recent years, in part because she disapproved of his religion. The Longos wouldn't visit him, and their phone conversations were limited to matters such as the weather, he said.

He said his strait-laced daughter would never have approved of her husband's lawbreaking, but she was naive and trusting and would have ``pretty much believed anything he told her.''

The quiet, easygoing woman had never ventured far beyond the Ann Arbor area and would have been homesick, her father said, adding that he suspects she finally put her foot down - and sealed her fate.

``I think that's when he killed her,'' Baker said. ``She wanted to go home. She'd had enough living out of cars.''

Even now, he remains shocked over his son-in-law's alleged violence. ``There was no history of him beating on her, being abusive verbally or physically. And then to turn around and kill his family ... I think he had a nervous breakdown. Something snapped. I think he's sick.''

News of Longo's arrest brought a sense of relief Monday to Lincoln County residents who were touched by the unexplainable deaths of the mother and her three children.

"We're just really, really happy to hear he was found," said Marietta Thompson, director of shelter services for My Sisters' Place in Newport. "I think the community feels really good about this."

The agency, which provides help for domestic and sexual abuse victims, conducted a service for MaryJane Longo and her children earlier this month.

Thompson said she hopes Longo's prosecution and possible trial will heighten national interest in the need to provide help for domestic violence victims. She said she also hopes Longo's capture will ease some of the pain for family members.

"Hopefully this will bring them a little closure and a little more peace," she said.

The Rev. Jim Howe of the Community Presbyterian Church in Waldport said an unofficial memorial to the Longo family remains on display there and the community remains in mourning. He said the arrest still leaves residents wondering how Longo could have killed his wife and children.

If there can be a positive side to the tragedy, Howe said, it's that the people in the community have developed a greater appreciation of their children and of the need for people to care for one another.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CAPTION(S):

Christian Longo arrives in Texas after being arrested in Mexico.