Second arrest made in 2005 Clearwater slaying

CLEARWATER -- Police have made a second arrest in the case of a dead man dumped on the side of the Courtney Campbell Causeway two years ago.

Clearwater police have arrested a man now living in South Carolina and charged him with second-degree murder in the slaying of Larry P. Sanders, 26.

Sanders' body was discovered by a couple out for a stroll on March 15, 2005. He was abandoned on the Tampa side of the causeway, but an investigation revealed that the killing took place in Clearwater.

Samuel H. Robbins, 38, has been charged in the killing. He was being held in a South Carolina detention center on unrelated charges and faces extradition.

Police say Sanders' death was a drug-related killing. In March, Clearwater police charged Dominic A. Coretto, 37, with second-degree murder. He was living in Vermont at the time of his arrest.

Sanders died of a blunt trauma to the head, according to detectives, but it was unclear what was used to kill him.

He was survived by one daughter and was a lifelong resident of Clearwater, graduating from Clearwater High School in 1996. Sanders had completed classroom training in real estate sales and had worked in telemarketing.

Police said that Sanders, Robbins and Coretto knew each other through drug-dealing connections.

Sanders was first attacked at 226 N Mars Ave. in Clearwater while apparently making a drug delivery, according to police.

The arrest of Robbins, 2-1/2 years later, was the result of a witness coming forward with information about the killing, police say. Investigators said they do not expect to make additional arrests.

Jonathan Abel, Times staff writer