Hearing set for suspect in wife’s death

Wednesday, Dec. 29, 1999 | 10:52 a.m.

A Jan. 27 preliminary hearing has been set for a man charged with murder in the beating death of his 32-year-old wife on Dec. 18.

The beating of Venus Santarin in her home at 1913 Rose Coral Ave., near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Vegas Drive, resulted in a severe brain injury that led to death despite efforts to save her at University Medical Center, according to court records.

Ponciano Santarin, 34, was arraigned Tuesday in Justice of the Peace Doug Smith's courtroom on the charge of murder with the use of a deadly weapon .

He had been arrested after police responded to a 911 call of a woman having difficulty breathing. Police determined the woman was the victim of a battery and arrested her husband. Charges were upgraded to murder when the victim died.

archive