Did Man's Attorney Request Create Reason to Search Car? (Mom's Body Was in Trunk)
Pulled over in 2008 by a rookie police officer for failing to use headlights at night and running a stop light, Daniel Sanders, who was then 19, asked for an attorney almost immediately, according to court documents.
Finding this suspicious, the Columbia, Mo., officer, Jessica McNabb, searched his car. In the trunk she found a body, later identified as that of Sanders’ 53-year-old mother, next to a brand-new shovel with the price tag still on it, reports the Missourian.
Initially charged with felony evidence tampering in the Boone County Circuit Court case, Sanders was subsequently accused of second-degree murder.
Now, amidst a flurry of incoming pretrial motions, his lawyer is seeking to suppress evidence from the car search, contending that McNabb lacked both probable cause and a warrant. Attorney Christopher Slusher also contends that McNabb violated his client’s constitutional rights by continuing to question Sanders after he asked for counsel, the newspaper reports.
Hat tip: Crime Scene KC.
Updated at 1:40 p.m. to correct a reporting error.
