GUILTY PA - Cesar Vera, 33, stabbed to death, Philadelphia, 8 Sept 2013

The former homicide detective charged with covering up a slaying allegedly committed by his girlfriend has been released on bail, according to court documents...

Ron Dove, a 16-year veteran of the force when he was fired in November 2013, is accused of helping his girlfriend, Erica Sanchez, flee the state after she allegedly fatally stabbed her estranged lover, Cesar Vera.

Prosecutors say Dove paid for Sanchez's hotel room in Upstate New York, hid her car in a garage, and repeatedly concealed his knowledge of her whereabouts from investigators searching for her.

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Dove, a 16-year police veteran, has been charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, obstructing administration of law, tampering with physical evidence, criminal conspiracy and related offenses. The charges followed a lengthy grand jury investigation authorities said is still on-going. Dove’s previous cases are being scrutinized and evidence peripheral to the case is under investigation...

In describing the case against Dove, Williams told reporters within minutes of Vera’s death, Sanchez, still stained with the victim’s blood, called Dove for help. He had been involved with Sanchez since 2010. Williams said before the department even knew about Vera’s homicide, Dove was on the phone calling national hotel chains looking for a place for Sanchez to stay.

“As corroborated by toll records and video, Dove drove Sanchez from Philadelphia to Rochester, N.Y., where he checked her into a Holiday Inn for which he paid,” Williams said. “He bought her a new cell phone, a TaceFone, which is particularly difficult to trace. He left her hidden in New York and came back to work in Philadelphia where his own colleagues were still trying to locate her.”

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The one-time girlfriend of a former Philadelphia homicide detective pleaded guilty to murder Wednesday for killing one of her previous lovers.

Erica Sanchez, 36, pleaded guilty in Common Pleas Court to third-degree murder and possessing instruments of a crime in the Sept. 8, 2013, slaying of her ex-boyfriend, Cesar Vera.

After the murder, Sanchez allegedly conspired with her boyfriend at the time, then-Homicide Detective Ronald Dove, to flee Pennsylvania, according to police.

At the request of Sanchez's attorney, Peter Bowers, Judge Diana Anhalt deferred sentencing in the murder case until March so Bowers can prepare a sentencing memo to detail mitigating factors in Sanchez's case.

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According to court records, Dove "does not wish to plea." His case is slated for a two-week jury trial in January.

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Former Philadelphia Police Homicide Detective Ronald Dove will serve 30 days in prison after he pleaded guilty Wednesday to helping his girlfriend flee from arrest for the slaying of her former lover.

Dove, 44, bearded and in casual clothes, appeared contrite and embarrassed as he quietly replied “guilty” to six counts charging him with conspiracy, lying to authorities, and evidence tampering to cover up helping Erica Sanchez flee from Pennsylvania.

Nichols then sentenced Dove according to the terms of his plea agreement with the District Attorney’s Office: 23 months in prison but paroled after just 30 days, followed by three years of reporting probation. Dove, who is free on $25,000 bail, surrenders to prison July 24.

The judge also ordered Dove to undergo counseling to help him with his decision-making and the loss of his career.

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Dove’s trial on the charges was to have begun Wednesday. For more than a year, McMonagle had maintained that Dove would not plead guilty.

But Dove’s legal situation changed last November after Sanchez, 36, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in the Sept. 8, 2013, stabbing of ex-lover Cesar Vera, 33, with whom she lived. Sanchez is awaiting sentencing.

Discussing the plea with Nichols, Assistant District Attorney Kirk Handrich, who prosecuted the case with Carlos Vega, said the evidence that would be used against Dove at trial included Sanchez’ testimony.

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