A man who was on the run from authorities for over four decades after he allegedly murdered a Florida woman back in 1984 has finally been taken into custody by law enforcement. As the old song says, “You can run for a long time, but sooner or later, God’s gonna cut you down.”
Ashe Schow, writing for the Daily Wire, said, “Donald Santini, 65, had been featured three times on ‘America’s Most Wanted,’ but remained free until he was captured last week in California and extradited back to Florida.”
“The arrest of Donald Santini brings closure to a long-standing cold case and provides justice for the victim and her family after nearly four decades of waiting. Let’s not forget the tireless work that has gone into this case over the years, the resources, and expertise to pursue justice for Cynthia Wood,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister went on to say about the arrest, according to USA Today.
Cynthia Ruth Wood was a 33-year-old divorced woman living in Florida during June 1984. Wood crossed paths with Santini, who promised that he would help her do research into her ex-husband in order to help her win a heated custody battle, a report from the Tampa Bay Times stated. Wood then met with Santini on June 6, 1984 in order to chat about the case. However, she disappeared. Three days later, Wood’s body was found in a water-filled ditch. An autopsy performed on the body determined she died by strangulation.
Schow reported, “Pamela Lynn Kincaid, who knew Santini, told Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office detectives that Santini, using the alias Charles Michael Stevens, had confessed to her about killing Wood. Authorities later determined that Stevens was one of three aliases Santini used before Wood died.”
In 1978, Santini was convicted of rape while he was serving in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Germany. After returning home to Texas, he was once again charged with a crime, this time it was aggravated robbery for robbing a local convenience store. He moved to Florida after his release and started working as a janitor under the Stevens alias. And this is where he came across Kincaid and soon moved in with her. Her kids were attending a local daycare close by their home, which is where Wood worked as a manager.
“Wood had filed charges against her ex-husband, Barry, alleging he physically abused her and her son from a previous marriage. She was also struggling through a contentious custody battle with Barry over their own two children, which is what Santini said he would help with,” Schow stated in his report. “After Wood died, the charges against Barry were dropped, and Santini disappeared for nearly 14 years. To avoid capture, Santini used at least 13 aliases. On June 7, nearly 40 years after Wood went missing, Sanitini was arrested after the FBI and other law enforcement agencies tracked him down in San Diego, California. It was a tip from a Florida/Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force that led U.S. marshals to Santini. He arrived at Hillsborough County Jail last week.”
Why are people like this allowed to continually be set loose on society? After this many stints in prison, it should be obvious he’s never going to change. Who knows how many crimes he’s committed or people he’s hurt over the course of the last four decades. It is well beyond time to stop treating violent repeat offenders with more compassion than their victims and the rest of civilization.