FL Man Wanted In 1984 Death Of Bradenton Woman Arrested In CA: Records

SAN DIEGO, CA — A Florida man wanted in the 1984 death of a Bradenton woman was found and arrested in California last week.

Donald Michael Santini, 65, was booked into San Diego Central Jail on June 7, according to records from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.

A warrant was issued nearly four decades ago for his arrest in the cold-case murder of Cynthia Ruth Wood, who was 33 at the time of her death in Hillsborough County.

He was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service’s Fugitive Task Force in Campo, a small Southern California community near the Mexican border, after a tip came in to authorities, according to NBC News.

Wood’s body was found June 9, 1984 around 3:30 p.m. in a water-filled drainage ditch on Alsobrook Drive, off Riverview Drive, in Riverview, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office’s unsolved homicides files.

She was last seen leaving her home with Santini about five days earlier, the sheriff’s office said. An autopsy determined she was strangled to death.

The two met after Santini told the mother of three that he had information about her husband, Barry Wood, that could help her win custody of her children, according to the Tampa Bay Times. At the time of her death, she was in a combative custody battle with her husband and filed charges against him accusing him of physical abuse against her and her oldest child.

A warrant for first-degree murder was issued for Santini. Investigators believed he might have been in Texas using an unknown identity. According to his warrant, he used at least 13 aliases.

A witness told investigators that a man using the name Charles Michael Stevens — one of Santini’s aliases — had confessed to killing Wood, reports said.

Detectives have gone to California to interview the fugitive, according to WFTS.

"We are aware of this arrest and have sent detectives to interview Santini, while we await extradition,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “This arrest allows us to reexamine evidence collected in 1984 using the technology of today, as the case is now considered open once again. While that process is underway, we want to protect the integrity of the investigation and can not release any further details."