Longo back in Newport.

Byline: SUSAN PALMER The Register-Guard

NEWPORT - Christian Longo waived extradition in Texas and returned under guard late Tuesday to the coastal town where the bodies of his wife and three children were discovered dumped in two nearby bays.

Longo arrived at the Lincoln County Jail shortly before midnight and was scheduled for arraignment this morning on aggravated murder charges in the four deaths.

He is under maximum security - locked in his cell for 21 hours a day, said Sheriff John O'Brien. He declined to say whether Longo would have contact with other inmates or whether he would be kept on a suicide watch.

"We will assess his behavior and moods and adjust as we need to," O'Brien said.

About two-dozen bystanders waited outside in the cold to see Longo brought to the jail in an unmarked sheriff's sedan escorted by a second unmarked car and at least two Newport police cars.

Lincoln County District Attorney Bernice Barnett has declined to disclose details about the crime, the evidence against Longo, a possible motive or whether she would seek the death penalty against him.

It's unclear if authorities will reveal any of that information in today's proceedings.

As many as 30 officers from a half-dozen different agencies have worked on the case since Longo's 4-year-old son, Zachary, was found Dec. 19 in an Alsea Bay inlet in Waldport. Sadie Ann Longo, 3, was found Dec. 22 in water nearby. The children's mother, MaryJane Longo, 34, and 2-year-old Madison were found Dec. 27 in Yaquina Bay.

Longo was escorted back to Oregon by two officers from the Lincoln County Major Crime Team, the sheriff said. Longo flew into Portland on a commercial flight from Houston and sat in the last row near a window. Police kept clear the three rows ahead of him.

"Having Christian Longo in custody is a major burden off all law enforcement agencies," O'Brien said.

The 27-year-old fugitive was arrested Sunday in Mexico by about 20 Mexican officers and FBI agents, who got a tip from a tourist who had met Longo at a hostel in Cancun.

The FBI had placed Longo on its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on Friday.

Longo waived formal extradition proceedings in Mexico and was flown to Houston on Monday. During a brief appearance Tuesday in Harris County Court in Houston, Longo waived extradition to Oregon. His security was set at $2.5 million.

"He knew eventually he would have to go back," said Jeff Ludwig, Longo's court-appointed attorney in Houston. "He seemed very alert and was aware of the charges against him."

After Longo is arraigned today, his case will go to a grand jury for an indictment, Barnett said. She didn't know when a grand jury hearing would be scheduled.

Longo was expected to be arraigned by video from the jail rather than appearing in Circuit Judge Robert Huckleberry's courtroom because of a scheduling conflict, Barnett said.

The state district attorney's office will assign an investigator and an attorney to the case to help Lincoln County in prosecuting Longo, Barnett said.

The county hasn't prosecuted an aggravated murder case since Barnett took office in 1988, she said.

Barnett and the sheriff wouldn't discuss Longo's mental condition or why he agreed so readily to return from Mexico to the United States and then to Oregon.

But residents wondered at the quick turn of events that brought him back to Newport, where the family moved from Ypsilanti, Mich., about four months ago.

"I was surprised by the fact that he was complacent about returning, almost like a willing puppy," said Wendy Thomas of Newport.

The crime hit particularly close to home for Thomas because a friend worked on the dive team that recovered the bodies in Yaquina Bay, she said.

While coastal residents are familiar with sudden death - most recently the loss of four fishermen at sea - the grisly murders of the Longo family represent a different kind of loss.

"These are big city crimes. They're very unusual for a place like this. It's like the big city dropping into our laps," Thomas said. "People move here to get away from it."

Carol "Tweedy" Griffin, a convenience store clerk, said she heard several people talking about the crimes and Longo's return and that some wished the trial would be moved somewhere else.

"Not me," she said. "I want him tried right here. I want to see justice done and I want to see it right here in our town."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.