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No link found in driver deaths

Deputies have found no connection between a Yellow Cab driver found slain Wednesday and another killed last month.

CLEARWATER - The slaying of a Yellow Cab driver found dead in his taxi Wednesday does not appear to be related to last month's killing of a cabdriver in Tarpon Springs, detectives said Thursday.

Eric J. Stanton, 26, was found dead Wednesday morning in a drugstore parking lot at 1605 Missouri Ave. S. Investigators have not said how Stanton died, but they say he was the victim of a homicide.

No arrests have been made.

On Aug. 18, another Yellow Cab driver, Safa Gul, 50, was found shot to death in his Tarpon Springs home. No arrests have been made in that case either.

Though both men were independent contractors for Yellow Cab, investigators don't think their deaths are linked, said Marianne Pasha, spokeswoman for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

She said detectives spent Thursday piecing together Stanton's final hours. Investigators have learned Stanton may have been driving his cab in the Largo area about 10 p.m. Tuesday.

They have learned he may have been in the area of Indian Rocks Road and West Bay Drive, and on Missouri Avenue somewhere between East Bay Drive and Belleair Road. They also have learned Stanton and a fare may have stopped at a convenience store in one of those areas around that time.

However, investigators don't have more specific information about Stanton's whereabouts and are hoping anyone who saw him that night will call them.

"They're trying to find out where he was that night," said Sgt. Tim Goodman.

Sheriff's officials said Stanton lived in Dunedin with a roommate, and his parents lived in Pasco County. Reached at their home Thursday evening, they declined to comment.

Stanton had driven for Yellow Cab for about three months. In 2001, he worked as a body piercer for Clint Wilson, who owns tattoo shops in Port Richey and Spring Hill. Wilson said he asked Stanton to design the shop's Web pages and invested about $15,000 in the project. But Stanton never produced, Wilson said.

"He said he would build me this incredible Web page for my shop ... and in six months he never got anywhere," said Wilson, who at one time let Stanton live at his house. Wilson said he later fired Stanton.

In July, Stanton was the victim of an unpaid fare or fraud case in Clearwater, sheriff's officials said. More details about that incident were not available Thursday.

Pasha said detectives have not settled on a motive.

"We have a couple of theories, but nothing solid," she said. "They have several theories at play.

"We're getting some tips that we're following up on," she added. "They're working very hard. They haven't stopped."

Chris Tisch can be reached at 445-4156 or tisch@sptimes.com

nyone with information about the death of Eric J. Stanton can call Detective Tom Klein at 582-6438 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-8477. Callers can remain anonymous and still collect a reward of up to $1,000.