Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 | 1:15 p.m.
Thomas Sanders
ALEXANDRIA, La. -- A Las Vegas man has pleaded not guilty to federal charges accusing him of kidnapping and killing a 12-year-old girl whose body was found last October by hunters in remote woods in east-central Louisiana.
Fifty-three-year-old Thomas Stevens Sanders pleaded Friday to charges of kidnapping and use of a gun to kill Lexis Roberts. Either charge, filed last month, could be punished by death.
An earlier indictment charged Sanders just with kidnapping the girl, whom he allegedly brought from Arizona and shot in Catahoula Parish with a .22-caliber rifle.
Sanders was declared legally dead in Mississippi in 1994. In November, he pleaded not guilty to kidnapping Roberts.
She and her mother, 31-year-old Suellen Roberts, reportedly traveled with Sanders over the Labor Day weekend. Suellen Roberts' body was found in November and identified in December.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy