An Okaloosa County grand jury has indicted Harry Bernard Leach on charges of first-degree premeditated murder and first-degree felony murder in the death of Pluma Bell Sanford in 1997.
Sanford, 73, was found bound, beaten and strangled in her house trailer on Pineview Boulevard off Hurlburt Road on Aug. 15, 1997. The cause of death was ruled as asphyxia, secondary to ligature strangulation.
The case produced few leads for years but was reopened in 2010.
Evidence collected at the scene failed to make a full DNA profile until 2011. Last November, the profile matched that of Leach, who had been arrested in Missouri for aggravated assault.
Okaloosa sheriff’s investigators say they were able to place Leach at Sanford’s home near the time of the killing as a repairman.
The Sheriff’s Office charged him Jan. 9 with one count each of capital murder and kidnapping.
Leach, 37, is in the Phelps County Jail in Missouri awaiting extradition to Florida.
Daily News Staff Writer Lauren Delgado can be reached at 850-315-4445 or ldelgado@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenDnwfdn.
