TOM BREEN Associated Press Writer

(AP) - BECKLEY, West Virginia-It could be weeks before a former Unitarian minister wanted in Ireland for his role in a woman's 2002 suicide, learns whether he will be extradited to face trial there.

George Exoo's lawyer and a federal prosecutor presented arguments Friday in a hearing at the federal court in Beckley, but the judge said he would need more time to weight the evidence.

"I don't see being anywhere near reaching a conclusion in a week or two," Judge R. Clarke VanDervort said.

Exoo, 64, will remain in custody.

Irish authorities have sought Exoo's extradition since he admitted to assisting in the 2002 suicide of Rosemary Toole at her home in Dublin.

Five years ago, Exoo told many media outlets that he and his live-in companion, Thomas McGurrin, sat with Toole as she swallowed crushed pills, covered her head with a plastic bag and breathed helium. Toole suffered from depression and from a condition that caused swelling in her head, but was not terminally ill or disabled.

Her death was the first known assisted suicide in Ireland, where it has been illegal since 1993. It is not a federal crime in the U.S., nor is it a crime in West Virginia.

Toole had contacted Exoo because he ran Compassionate Chaplaincy, a tax-exempt organization he founded that counseled people seeking to commit suicide.

If extradited and convicted, Exoo faces up to 14 years in prison.