Still, Rettew refuses to believe her father was a hitman. He didn’t address the murder of Wood and he said his wife of more than 30 years in San Diego had no idea who he really was. In a letter sent to ABC 10News last month from jail, he said, “Things are not as they seem” and admitted to committing an unrelated rape. Santini’s public defender hasn’t returned a request from ABC 10News but Santini himself is talking. The State Attorney’s Office in Florida alleges Santini was contracted to kill Wood, who had been going through a custody dispute over her kids at the time. Several told ABC 10News reporter Austin Grabish they were stunned he was a wanted fugitive, with a water board colleague calling him a “pillar” in the community.ĭonald Santini was wanted for the 1984 murder of Cynthia Wood, a then 33-year-old going through a divorce with her husband. Simmonds had been serving as the president of one of two local water boards in Campo and is well known by residents. “When his passport expired, he wasn't able to notarize things for the water company.” Rettew said her dad told her something wasn’t right when he was asked for the last 40 years of tax returns and didn’t get his birth certificate back after renewing his passport in the mail. Santini, 65, wept as he wore a red prisoner’s jumpsuit at his first court appearance in Florida on July 6th, where he was extradited last month.įederal agents found him while he was allegedly committing identity fraud while trying to obtain a passport, according to court documents in Florida. “The defendant further stated that he stopped using fake driver’s licenses when he became aware of facial recognition.” “The defendant stated that he saw the story of himself on America’s Most Wanted,” a court document says. In a June 8 th interview in a San Diego jail, he spoke openly with a detective about living life on the lam. In a motion for pretrial detention document filed in Florida court, prosecutors said he used multiple fake names and identities for over 39 years to evade capture. His daughter found the listing and said she knew immediately the man on the poster was her dad, who she knew as "Wellman Simmonds." Screenshot Donald Santini is seen in this Americana wanted poster for sale on eBay.
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