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Man pleads guilty to 2004 murder

By TIMES WIRES
Published February 7, 2007

A man linked to a 2004 murder through DNA pleaded guilty to the charge Monday and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. George Sanders, 37, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the July 2004 killing of Marcia Elliott, 29. Her body was found at Mirror Lake. She had been strangled. About eight months later, DNA evidence from Elliott's body linked the murder to Sanders. Elliott and Sanders, who had both been transient and had previous drug problems, knew each other. Prosecutor Fred Schaub said Sanders could have received a life sentence if convicted by a jury.

Boy found in pool remains in hospital

A toddler found facedown in a pool Monday remained at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg on Tuesday afternoon. At his family's request, hospital administrators did not release information about his condition. Sixteen-month-old Jordan Bruck was discovered in the family pool at 2256 Hill Road by his mother, Jami Wuchter, 39, about 5:30 p.m. Monday after she noticed an open screen door leading to the pool.

Shootings bring hate crime charge

A 24-year-old man who police say cast a spray of bullets and racial violence across city streets Monday evening was in custody before daybreak. Officials say they got the first sign of Robert J. Mueller's criminal rampage at 8:45 p.m., when 911 operators fielded a call from a 47-year-old man on Lime Street who had just been shot. Before getting whisked off to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, John L. Murray told officers that the bullet in the back of his shoulder was fired by a man driving a late-model Honda with some rear body damage. Mueller was booked into the Pinellas County Jail with bail set at $230,000.

Thief targets iPod accessories, DVDs

Authorities Monday charged Richard Perez, 52, of 9040 St. Regis Lane, Port Richey, with three counts of grand theft. Perez was released from the jail Tuesday on $20,000 bail. He is accused of stealing $600 worth of iPod accessories from the Target on Little Road and State Road 54 in Trinity in November, nearly $1,300 worth of DVDs from the Target near the Suncoast Parkway in Odessa in late January and several DVD boxed sets from the Target off U.S. 19 in Port Richey on Jan. 24.

[Last modified February 7, 2007, 00:32:22]