Michigan man faces murder charge in Tennessee cold case

By Travis Loller Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Michigan man accused of strangling an ex-girlfriend to death in Tennessee 16 years ago was indicted on a first-degree murder charge Tuesday, according to a prosecutor's office. Sarah Lea Perry told police just hours before she disappeared on June 14, 2000, that Jason Sanford had threatened her because she had broken up with him, prosecutors said. Her body was found in a trash can the following day. Hours later, Sanford bought a one-way ticket and got on a bus to Detroit. Sanford's arrest Tuesday comes after a recently formed cold case investigations unit began looking into Perry's death at the urging of her mother, Pam Hilton. Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston said he doesn't know why detectives could not make a case against Sanford years ago. Hilton said in a phone interview that she knew her daughter was in an abusive relationship but she didn't know the details. Perry, who was 21 at the time of her death, had "become wayward and gotten involved with the wrong person," Hilton said. "I kept reminding her to be cautious of him." On Wednesday, Sanford was being held in a Michigan jail pending extradition to Tennessee. No phone number was listed for him, and Pinkston said he did not know whether Sanford had an attorney. Sanford was originally from the Detroit area but moved to the Chattanooga area for work, living there for several years before Perry's death, Pinkston said. At the time of his arrest, Sanford was living with his mother and working at an auto detailer, Pinkston said. Hilton said she kept tabs on the investigation over the years and tried not to get frustrated, trusting that detectives were doing all they could to solve the case. She only learned several details of the investigation on Wednesday, when Pinkston announced that Sanford had been indicted. "I always suspected she broke up with him, and he was furious," Hilton said. "But I didn't know that until today." At the time of her death, Perry had two small children with an estranged husband. They are now 18 and 20 years old. "I miss my daughter," Hilton said, "I wish she was here to see she's got two beautiful young men." Pinkston said it could be a month before Sanford is brought to Tennessee if he fights the extradition. Published: Fri, Aug 19, 2016