GUILTY TX - Donna Sandlin, 47, Keller, 26 March 2007

Donna Sandlin is a counselor's aide at one of our local high schools here in Keller. She has been missing since yesterday when she was last seen by her husband when she left for work. The husband is cooperating with LE and they do not believe he is involved. LE found her car yesterday and her cell phone was in a dumpster. I work for the school district and can tell you that we are all in shock. Please keep Donna and her family in your prayers.

Her story can be found at www.nbc5i.com and www.wfaa.com

Why do so many people go missing either on the way to work or on the way home? It happens so often. I wonder why her vehicle was found at a resturant? Did she stop there or did someone drive it there.

I wonder if there were any problems in the marriage? Did she talk to her co-workers about any problems or to her close friends? Just seems strange when the husband is the last one to see the wife and then eventially she is found dead. I know this lady hasn't been found yet but it doesn't seem that she ran away without her vehicle. Guess we will have to wait and see. I wonder if the husband took a poly?

okie: Did you mean for your date to say 3/26 as opposed to 2/26?

So sad.. apparently the husband has confessed to her murder, told authorities where to locate her body, which is now undergoing identification. I am so sorry to hear that this is the outcome in this missing persons case.. my prayers to the family and friends of Donna..i so wish that this was not the case. My heart goes out to those who knew her most.

There doesnt appear to be any info on the motive at this time.

Donna was found this morning after her husband directed LE to the location of her body. They were high school sweethearts and had been married for many years. Everyone in the school district is so sad and in shock. We have had extra counselors in all week.

He killed her, dumped her car, jogged home, put her in his car and drove to Waco (about 3 hours from here). He attended a business meeting THEN dumped her body. Neighbors say that the couple walked hand in hand after dinner each night. How could he do such a thing???

I feel so sorry for her children. They are in their early 20's but have now lost both their mom and dad.

More information is at www.wfaa.com.

AlwaysShocked said:

okie: Did you mean for your date to say 3/26 as opposed to 2/26?

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Yes, I did...so sorry.

How HORRIBLE! I'm getting so sick of hearing about husbands killing their wives! Just unbelievable!

God Bless her family & friends!

texasgirl said:

How HORRIBLE! I'm getting so sick of hearing about husbands killing their wives! Just unbelievable!

God Bless her family & friends!

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It seems like it happens daily doesn't it? I wonder what happened between this couple? They walked every night holding hands? When I think about it the people that I always thought had the best marriages...didn't..and eventially ended up divorced. Every time I was in shock. Everything couldn't have been the way it seemed in this marriage. Some couple can really put on a good front in front of people.

The latest in this story is that he was having an affair with a woman in Colorado. He and Donna had been married for 30 years....since they were both only 17 years old. Our community is in such shock. This was a picture perfect couple. Donna apparently did not know about the affair. She was always happy and smiling. She and I work for the same school district and everyone who has ever met her just can't believe what has happened. What on earth makes someone do something like this???

Doesn't that just remind you of Scott and Laci? She was happy and always smiling and didn't have a clue anything was wrong. Everyone thought they were just the happiest couple. Then she was dead. The same with Donna by the sounds of it and her husband was having an affair too without her knowing it. He fooled everyone too. I wonder if he is a sociopath like Scott?

I wonder what made him buck up and confess?!?!

Wow Im Sadden By The News That He Did It. Wow So Sad For Her Kids

Bobbisangel said:

Doesn't that just remind you of Scott and Laci? She was happy and always smiling and didn't have a clue anything was wrong. Everyone thought they were just the happiest couple. Then she was dead. The same with Donna by the sounds of it and her husband was having an affair too without her knowing it. He fooled everyone too. I wonder if he is a sociopath like Scott?

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You know, I thought the same thing when I first heard all of this. They had been married since they were only 17 years old! How do you kill someone whom you are supposed to love and have spent so much of your life with? It just blows my mind. Today our local news reported that even though he was having an affair with a woman in Colorado, they do not consider that the motive, yet they are not saying WHAT the motive is! My heart just breaks for her kids who have now lost both parents......

I was talking to one reporter about this story and they told me that the husband had told the mistress that Donna was his "ex-wife". She had no idea that he was still married.

He said he "snapped". What exactly does snapped mean? He strangled her with a shoe string, and she had bruises. Maybe Donna did find out about the mistress and confronted him with the knowledge and he blew up. Maybe he thought that he could get away with the murder, but did not have time to clean up since they found blood in both cars and in the house, and felt it was better to just confess.

What is the matter with these guys....you would think that they have never heard of getting a divorce. I would just like to do a poll in the prisons of people who have murdered wives..ex-wives...girlfriends and ex-girlfriends. I would ask each one....Was It Really Worth It??????

I wonder if anyone has considered that he didn't actually do it. What if he were mixed up in something bigger than what we can all see as black and white. There are too many things that just don't add up to me. I just haven't been able to shake another shocking murder that happened on the same day; so I did some cross referencing with names and sure enough that murder makes a connection with actually two other murders within a couple of days. I don't believe that Richard Sandlin killed his wife, and if he did, I believe there is a very complicated motive. . .

onmyown said:

I wonder if anyone has considered that he didn't actually do it. What if he were mixed up in something bigger than what we can all see as black and white. There are too many things that just don't add up to me. I just haven't been able to shake another shocking murder that happened on the same day; so I did some cross referencing with names and sure enough that murder makes a connection with actually two other murders within a couple of days. I don't believe that Richard Sandlin killed his wife, and if he did, I believe there is a very complicated motive. . .

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I hate to disagree with you on your very first post, but don't the news articles say that he led LE to her body?

Unfortunately this is an all too common story. Keep reading here and you will see it over and over again. It sounds like you may have a connection to Richard. If you do, I'm sorry for the pain you must be feeling. Reading here may not be helpful for you.

What doesn't add up?

http://www.nbc5i.com/news/11405354/detail.html

A Keller husband has confessed to strangling his wife on their bedroom floor using a shoestring before dumping her body in a wooded area near Waco after attending a business meeting, police said.

Richard Sandlin, 47, was charged with murder in the death of his wife of 30 years, Donna, a high school counselor's aide at Fossil Ridge who was reported missing Monday morning after not showing up for work.

Police said Sandlin confessed to them on Tuesday night that he killed his wife over a woman he was having an affair with who lived out of state.

Sandlin then gave police the directions to her body, which was found at Valley Mills High School on state Highway 6, about 24 miles west of Waco, police said. Officials said Sandlin made no attempt to bury his wife's body.

According to police, Sandlin strangled his wife in the morning and then abandoned her Toyota Land Cruiser in a Keller restaurant parking lot in the 800 block of South Main Street in an attempt to make her disappearance look like an abduction.

Sandlin then returned home, put his wife's body in his car and went to a business meeting near Waco. After the business meeting, Sandlin said he dumped his wife's body and then returned home.

Back at home in Keller, Sandlin went out with his son to look for clues as to the whereabouts of his wife when they found her car in the parking lot of the Keller restaurant. While Sandlin's son was inside a nearby business showing pictures of his missing mother, Sandlin told police he dropped her cell phone into a nearby trash bin.

Sandlin then called police to notify them that he had located her vehicle and asked the officer to set up a crime scene while encouraging them to search the trash bin, officials said.

<snip>

Officers said they were suspicious of Sandlin at that point, but had no hard evidence. On Tuesday, Sandlin gave police permission to search his car where they found evidence of blood. Officials said the car had also recently been cleaned and vacuumed.

Investigators also obtained a search warrant for the couple's home and then took him into custody for questioning. Investigators said traces of blood were found in the suspect's vehicle, his wife’s vehicle and at their home.

more at link...

No it's okay, I did not know this man personally. I am just closely aquainted to someone who did, someone who was close to this situation, and there is just something about it that I can't shake. . . Did you happen to hear of the shocking drive-by shooting on the same day they reported Donna missing? Kenneth Woolsey who had just moved back two days before from England with his family, a man pulled up beside them shooting this man with one bullet to the head and drove away. No one has any leads. . .

onmyown said:

No it's okay, I did not know this man personally. I am just closely aquainted to someone who did, someone who was close to this situation, and there is just something about it that I can't shake. . . Did you happen to hear of the shocking drive-by shooting on the same day they reported Donna missing? Kenneth Woolsey who had just moved back two days before from England with his family, a man pulled up beside them shooting this man with one bullet to the head and drove away. No one has any leads. . .

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I didn't know about that. I don't live in TX. How sad for that poor family!

Are they connected in your mind because of the shocking, unexpected violence or is there another reason? I don't see the connection at all.

Condonlences to your friend who knows the family. I cannot imagine knowing the people involved in a situation like this.