Former TV host to face 1998 attempted murder charges following extradition back to Australia

A fugitive who spent 17 years on the run after faking his own death to flee attempted murder charges is behind bars tonight, after he was extradited back to Australia from the UK this morning to face attempted murder charges.

Disgraced former shopping TV host Roberto de Heredia, 47, allegedly attempted to blow up a Sydney couple in June 1998.

He sent a bomb stuffed with 50 bolts, gunpowder and other shrapnel to the Belrose home model Brett Boyd shared with his girlfriend Simone Farrow, a prostitute and Penthouse Pet, police claim.

Mr Boyd, a bodybuilder and part-time model, lost his left eye, lost 80 percent vision in his right eye, and lost part of his hand in the explosion.

He was also left partially deaf.

Mr Boyd took his own life in 2008, having struggled to cope with his injuries, which ruined his modelling career.

Mr de Heredia had allegedly been enraged that the couple had not paid him $80,000 to help set up an internet porn business.

Police allege Mr de Heredia, who had presented the Television Shopping Network, faked his death by abandoning his car, which he covered in his own blood in June 1998, just days before he was due to appear in court.

He then fled to Bali on a stolen passport, and later set up a new life as a foreign exchange trader in Spain.

The lead went cold until 2010, when it was discovered he had changed his name to Robert Valentine Shorthouse and then Robert Jackson.

The passports issued to those names all featured his fingerprints and his photo.

He was arrested at Gatwick Airport on April 27, after arriving in Britain from Spain to visit family.

Mr de Heredia arrived back in Sydney about 5am today and was taken to Surry Hills Police Station where he was charged with attempted murder.

He has been remanded in custody and was represented in Parramatta Bail Court today by Legal Aid NSW, who announced that Mr de Heredia would not be applying for bail.

Police say it was determination that enabled them to find Mr de Heredia in the end.

“It’s been 18 years and it’s been quite complex,” Police NSW spokesman Superintendent Dave Darcy said at a press conference today.

“The investigators have been incredibly determination to get to the bottom of this.

“The challenge of the travel documents made it quite hard for us, but in the end we prevailed.”

Mr de Heredia is due to appear in Downing Centre district court on Wednesday.