This is the first mugshot of a fugitive arrested after nearly 40 years on the run after allegedly strangling a woman and leaving her body in a ditch.
Donald Santini was extradited from San Diego, California to Florida and incarcerated at the Orient Road Jail in Tampa early Wednesday morning.
The 65-year-old was half-smiling in his prison mugshot wearing orange overalls as he was charged with the first-degree murder of Cynthia Wood in 1984.
Santini was captured in San Diego in early June after evading arrest for 39 years, during which time he appeared in multiple episodes of America’s Most Wanted.
Operating under the name Wellman Simmonds, Santini served as president of the local water board in Campo – a small community of about 3,000 outside of San Diego. He often appeared at public gatherings and was regarded as a ‘pillar of the community’ by neighbors who said they were baffled by the news.
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Donald Santini, 65, arrived early Wednesday morning at Orient Road Prison in Tampa to face jail after being extradited from San Diego
Santini was captured in San Diego in early June after escaping arrest for 39 years
He was jailed on first-degree murder charges for the 1984 death of Cynthia Wood
Santini has served time behind bars for raping a woman while stationed in Germany and is wanted in Texas for aggravated robbery, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.
The alleged killer will be transferred to Falkenburg Road Jail, according to the Sherriff’s Office, where he will await trial.
“The arrest of Donald Santini ends a longstanding cold case and brings justice for the victim and her family after nearly four decades of waiting,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister.
“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.”
Santini was the last person seen with Wood, 33, before her body was discovered strangled and left in a canal. After being identified as a suspect, the alleged killer – who was 26 at the time – fled the county.
The alleged victim, who is from the town of Bradenton, south of Tampa, was last seen leaving her apartment with Santini, who has appeared several times on America’s Most Wanted, around June 4, 1984.
They met at a daycare where she worked while he picked up his girlfriend’s children. At the time, Wood was going through a divorce.
Florida authorities obtained a warrant for Santini’s arrest about a week later, and he has been on the run ever since.
The alleged killer was ushered into the booking center in nice slacks, comfortable shoes and a striped blue polo shirt. He wouldn’t last long in his fancy outfit as he was given a standard pair of bright orange scrubs
The alleged killer will be transferred to Falkenburg Road Jail, according to the Sherriff’s Office, where he will await trial
The warrant said a medical examiner determined she had been strangled and Santini’s fingerprints were found on her body.
At the time of her death, Wood was in a custody battle for her children against her estranged husband, Barry Wood, whom she also accused of physically abusing her and her son from a previous marriage.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Wood’s meeting with Texas native Santini came after calling her with a promise to provide information about her husband.
Santini also had at least 13 aliases and a history of prior convictions and lived in California under the names: Charles Michael Stevens, Donald Chapman and John Trimble.
He had been hiding in plain sight for years in Campos, near San Diego, with his wife, shocking residents earlier this year when he was apprehended for the crime.
“It was honestly one of the most shocking things I’ve ever heard in my life,” resident Rick Fox, who unknowingly lived next door to Santini, told me. 10 news. “He came to visit and said, ‘What are you doing?’ …[He was] a very cordial guy, very nice guy.’
Santini was the last person seen with Wood, 33, before her body was discovered strangled and left in a canal. The warrant said a medical examiner determined she had been strangled and Santini’s fingerprints were found on her body
Santini has appeared on America’s Most Wanted several times
He was well known to the residents and, according to the newspaper, was even chairman of one of the two local water boards in the city.
“We’re all stunned,” a colleague of Santini’s at the Lake Morena Views Mutual Water Company told the station.
“He was a pillar of the community. He seemed sincere. He was an advocate, non-confrontational, and barely hid. I’m still trying to process all this.’
A member of the Lake Morena Views Mutual Water Company was also shocked to learn that Santini was an alleged murderer, telling 10 News, “We are all stunned. He was a pillar of the community. He seemed sincere. He was an advocate, non-confrontational, and barely hid. I’m still trying to process all this.’
He was arrested last month after US Marshals Services received a tip from the Florida/Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. They have not revealed the details that led them to Santini.
He is expected to make his first appearance in Hillsborough County Court on Thursday.