A murder suspect who evaded arrest for nearly 40 years watched his own profile on 'America's Most Wanted' before finally being caught
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
- A suspect in a cold case murder acknowledged watching his own "America's Most Wanted" episode.
- Donald Santini faces a first-degree murder charge for the killing of Cynthia Wood in 1984.
- Court documents said Santini was living under an alias, and was caught when he applied for a passport.
A cold case murder suspect who dodged authorities for 39 years was featured on the hit TV show "America's Most Wanted" multiple times, and even saw his own story featured on the show, according to court documents.
Donald Michael Santini was arrested in San Diego last month and accused of the 1984 murder of 33-year-old Cynthia Wood in Florida. Wood's body was discovered strangled and abandoned in a canal, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
Last week, Santini was extradited to Florida, where he has been charged with first-degree murder.
In a motion filed Thursday, obtained by Law & Crime, prosecutors argued that Santini should not be released from jail ahead of his trial due to his "past and present patterns of behavior," which included fleeing from police, traveling to a different state, and living under an alias.
The court document said Santini was living under the name Wellman Simmons in California, when federal agents ultimately discovered him "committing identity fraud to illegally obtain a passport."
Prosecutors alleged that Santini had initially been arrested on an aggravated robbery charge in Galveston County, Texas, in 1983, but was released ahead of trial. From there, Santini fled Texas and arrived in Florida, where he killed Wood in June 1984, prosecutors said.
Santini was the last person seen with Wood before her body was discovered by detectives, and was identified as a suspect shortly after, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
The sheriff's office added that investigators have been trying to find Santini for decades, even searching as far as Thailand, though they found no trace of him until he was arrested last month.
The sheriff's office added that Santini was featured on "America's Most Wanted" multiple times — in 1990, 2005, and 2013.
Santini has "committed two violent dangerous crimes, and has demonstrated the skill and wherewithal to deviously and adeptly evade justice by hiding his true identity and living under multiple fake names and identities for over 39 years," prosecutors argued.
Insider has reached out to the Hillsborough County Public Defender's Office for comment.
As of Sunday, a lawyer for Santini had not been identified.