SUSPECT REFUSES EXTRADITION FROM WASHINGTON IN DEATH.

Byline: SUE DOYLE Staff Writer

A suspect in the slaying of a woman found dead in a Reseda shed in September could remain in a Washington state jail for the next three months after refusing to waive extradition, authorities said Monday.

Mark Allen Steffen, 57, was arrested on suspicion of murder last week after the remains of his ex-girlfriend, Dina Ellen Canale, 37, were discovered in the backyard of a home in the 7900 block of Lindley Avenue, where the couple lived, said Detective Rick Swanston of the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Division.

Steffen will stay in the Kitsap County Jail on $1 million bail until authorities can bring him back on a governor's warrant, which can take up to three months, Swanston said.

Canale was last seen alive Aug. 13 and was renting a room in the house with Steffen.

The manhunt for him began after Canale's family filed a missing person's report Sept. 5 -- the day the Reseda man told a friend he was heading to Washington.

On Sept. 21, his brother, David Steffen, went to the house and noticed a strong odor coming from the backyard and found the body in a shed.

Canale's body was badly decomposed when discovered, Swanston said, and a cause of death is still pending.

sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com

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