The investigation reached as far as Thailand. Santini after his arrest (Photo: Walla! editorial board, Sheriff Hillsborough office)
A 65-year-old man wanted for murder in Florida has been apprehended after nearly four decades on the run, authorities said. Donald Santini, who allegedly murdered Cynthia Wood in 1984, was heading a local water authority in California at the time of his arrest.
Throughout the years since the murder, Santini has been wanted as the prime suspect, after it emerged that he was the last person seen with Wood on June 6, 1984, before detectives discovered the 33-year-old's body, lying in a ditch with signs of strangulation. Santini allegedly used 13 false names to evade arrest. His name has also appeared three times on the television show "America's Most Wanted People."
"Santini's arrest brings to light a murder case that has been open for years," said Chad Chronister, sheriff of Hillsborough County, Florida, where the murder took place. "It provides justice for the victim and her family after nearly four decades of waiting." He was apprehended thanks to information obtained by a regional task force in locating fugitives.
Found in a ditch with signs of strangulation. Cynthia Wood (Photo: Walla!, Sheriff's Hillsborough Bureau)
Many agencies, including the FBI, have worked this case, and over the years the case has taken investigators to Texas, California and even Thailand, but they have not been able to get their hands on Santini — so far. Santini was captured, arrested and charged with first-degree murder before being extradited to Hillsborough County early this week.
Santini was caught in a small suburb of San Diego, under the pseudonym Wellman Simmonds, and until now, under the nickname he adopted, served as president of the local water board and participated in public board meetings.
He told a local newspaper in San Diego that "the reason I was able to live on the run for so many years is because I lived a life full of respect and love." Over the years, he said, he volunteered, owned a Thai restaurant and ran an apartment building.
Santini had previously served a prison sentence for raping a woman while serving in Germany, and in 1983 was charged with aggravated robbery by robbing a convenience store in Texas.
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