Sarasota man charged with killing wife

Sarasota police arrested a 39-year-old man after his wife was found dead Wednesday night with multiple stab wounds.

Spencer Sanders, of Sarasota, was arrested and charged with homicide, according to police. He is being held in the Sarasota County jail without bond.

Sanders’ wife, Blanka Sanders, was found dead inside their home in the 900 block of 42nd Street in Sarasota, police said.

Blanka Sanders’ daughter grew concerned after being unable to reach her mother during the day, according to a probable cause affidavit. She went to the house to check on her mother, unlocked the front door and found her mother’s body face down, covered in blood with a knife nearby. She then called 911.

Police were called to assist the Sarasota County Fire Department with an injured person shortly after 6 p.m., but officers arrived to find Blanka Sanders dead, Sarasota police spokeswoman Genevieve Judge said.

The 47-year-old woman’s body was on the kitchen floor, with multiple stab wounds to the front of her upper torso and lacerations to her neck, according to the affidavit. A large kitchen knife was found near her body. Blanka Sanders’ phone and wallet were also found in the kitchen.

Phone records showed Blanka had a nearly two-minute conversation with Sanders at 3:40 p.m. Tuesday, and sent him a text message three minutes later. That text was the last one sent from her phone, according to the affidavit.

Police noted in the affidavit all the doors and windows to the home were locked when they arrived. The only three keys to the home belonged to Sanders, Blanka and Blanka’s daughter.

Investigators were told there was a history of domestic violence between the husband and wife, according to the affidavit.

Detectives found Sanders and interviewed him at the Sarasota Police Department headquarters. He was arrested and charged with his wife’s murder after the interview, Judge said in a news release Thursday.

While talking to police, Sanders said he last saw his wife alive Tuesday evening, and that he was in a crash that day and was in the hospital until Wednesday evening, according to the affidavit.

Police also spoke with Sanders’ mother, who told them Blanka came to her home around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday looking for her husband. Sanders’ mother told investigators she took Blanka back to her home on 42nd Street just before 4 p.m. However, when she tried to speak to Blanka after being told about Sanders’ crash, she never head back and found that suspicious, according to the affidavit.

Surveillance footage from the Regency Inn obtained by police showed Sanders’ white Nissan sedan driving east on 42nd Street toward his home at 4:05 p.m. Tuesday. Twenty minutes later, the cameras capture the Nissan sedan driving away from the home, the affidavit states.

At 4:41 p.m., police records confirmed Saunders was involved in a crash.

Sarasota County jail records indicate Sanders was previously arrested in May on a charge of domestic battery by strangulation. He pleaded not guilty to the charge on July 3, court records show.

Anyone with information can call the police department at 941-315 1199.

This story was originally published July 12, 2018 at 9:41 AM.