'Back from dead' suspect in court
Source: Agencies |
November 21, 2010, Sunday
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A Mississippi man who authorities thought had been dead for more than 15 years pleaded not guilty on Friday to kidnapping a 12-year-old girl whose body was found by hunters in remote Louisiana woods.
Thomas Steven Sanders, suspected of shooting Lexis Roberts of Las Vegas before dumping her body in central Louisiana's Catahoula Parish, said little during the hearing in federal court in Alexandria, Louisiana.
The 53-year-old Sanders spent much of the hearing leaning forward in his seat and reading documents with his lawyer.
His public defender, Rebecca Hudsmith, said she had met with him for the first time on Friday and wouldn't comment to reporters on his mental state or whether he'd offered any details about the case.
James Kelly, sheriff of the Louisiana parish where Roberts' body was found by hunters in October, was also at the hearing.
Kelly said he will charge Sanders with first-degree murder in state court when the federal government finishes processing him, possibly early this week.
Authorities said security footage showed Sanders buying ammunition at a Wal-Mart in Las Vegas in September. The bullets are allegedly the same type that killed the girl.
Second death
Sanders is also a suspect in the disappearance and likely death of the girl's mother, 31-year-old Suellen Roberts. Investigators are using dental records to determine whether a body found Monday in Arizona is hers.
If that body turns out to be Suellen Roberts, it's likely Sanders will at some point be charged in Arizona state court. Arizona, Louisiana and federal officials have been working together on the case.
Sanders was arrested last Sunday in Gulfport, Mississippi, after a massive manhunt to find the missing woman and her daughter. Authorities say Sanders and Suellen Roberts were in a relationship and took Lexis on a road trip for the Labor Day holiday weekend. The last place they were seen alive was in Arizona.
The case took a bizarre twist when authorities realized their prime suspect in the disappearances had been declared legally dead in 1994.
Sanders' parents, brother and ex-wife petitioned a Mississippi court for the death declaration in 1994, saying nobody had heard from him in seven years.
Thomas Steven Sanders, suspected of shooting Lexis Roberts of Las Vegas before dumping her body in central Louisiana's Catahoula Parish, said little during the hearing in federal court in Alexandria, Louisiana.
The 53-year-old Sanders spent much of the hearing leaning forward in his seat and reading documents with his lawyer.
His public defender, Rebecca Hudsmith, said she had met with him for the first time on Friday and wouldn't comment to reporters on his mental state or whether he'd offered any details about the case.
James Kelly, sheriff of the Louisiana parish where Roberts' body was found by hunters in October, was also at the hearing.
Kelly said he will charge Sanders with first-degree murder in state court when the federal government finishes processing him, possibly early this week.
Authorities said security footage showed Sanders buying ammunition at a Wal-Mart in Las Vegas in September. The bullets are allegedly the same type that killed the girl.
Second death
Sanders is also a suspect in the disappearance and likely death of the girl's mother, 31-year-old Suellen Roberts. Investigators are using dental records to determine whether a body found Monday in Arizona is hers.
If that body turns out to be Suellen Roberts, it's likely Sanders will at some point be charged in Arizona state court. Arizona, Louisiana and federal officials have been working together on the case.
Sanders was arrested last Sunday in Gulfport, Mississippi, after a massive manhunt to find the missing woman and her daughter. Authorities say Sanders and Suellen Roberts were in a relationship and took Lexis on a road trip for the Labor Day holiday weekend. The last place they were seen alive was in Arizona.
The case took a bizarre twist when authorities realized their prime suspect in the disappearances had been declared legally dead in 1994.
Sanders' parents, brother and ex-wife petitioned a Mississippi court for the death declaration in 1994, saying nobody had heard from him in seven years.
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