Donald Santini arrested in 1984 Florida murder


After nearly four decades, a Florida man featured on “America’s Most Wanted” was arrested and extradited in connection to the murder of Cynthia Ruth Wood. 

Donald Santini, 65, was wanted for the death of 33-year-old divorcée back in June of 1984, authorities confirmed.  He was arrested in California this week and returned to Florida to stand trial.

Investigators said the two crossed paths in the mid-1980s when Santini promised Wood he would provide information about her husband that could help her win custody of her children, according to reporting from Tampa Bay Times. 

Photograph of Cynthia Woods

The two were said to have met up on June 6, 1984, and Wood wasn’t seen again until three days later when detectives found her body in a drainage ditch, she appeared to have been strangled to death, The Tampa Bay Times reported. 

An autopsy confirmed that Wood, a mother of three from Bradenton had been strangled. A witness told detectives that Charles Michael Stevens, a known alias used by Santini, had confessed to her he killed Wood, according to The Tampa Bay Times. 



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