A man Duluth police wanted in an April killing is free after a New Mexico jail mistakenly released him due to a paperwork snafu.
That leaves Donald Singer’s family still waiting for answers about who killed the Duluth man whose daughter found his body wrapped in blankets in his garage. His 1998 red Porsche was missing.
On April 7, New Mexico authorities arrested Robert Craig Sandman in the theft of the car.
Sandman was not charged with the 57-year-old Singer’s death. But, “We know he was there, and we have a lot of questions for him,” Duluth police Capt. Mark Hunter said.
After Sandman was arrested in Sandoval County, New Mexico, Duluth police arranged to have him returned to Georgia. According to Hunter, Sandoval County officials sent notice to the state probation office and not the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department, which handles extraditions for its municipal police departments.
“Gwinnett never received any notice that he was ready for transfer and neither did we,” Hunter said.
Sandoval County officials, assuming they had followed proper protocol, released Sandman on May 13 after 20 days passed without word from Duluth authorities about the prisoner’s transfer, officials said.
The car-theft warrant remains in effect, but Sandman has eluded capture, Hunter said.
“I can’t put into words the frustration we feel,” said Hunter, adding he learned of Sandman’s release late last week.
Singer’s family, meanwhile, said their anger can’t be understated.
“I am disgusted that our justice system released a known murderer,” said Singer’s niece, Christina Torres Cappello.
Sandman served nine years for second-degree murder in New Mexico during the 1990s, state prison records show.
He served a second stint in prison starting in February after he was convicted of two counts of theft and aggravated stalking for an incident just down the street from Singer’s home.
Sandman, 52, had been sent to the state prison in Jackson in February and released March 22 — one day before Singer was last seen alive.
“Our investigation is at a standstill until we talk” to Sandman, Hunter said.
Singer’s niece said she believes Sandman would still be in custody “had someone just picked up the phone and followed up.”
“Now you have a dangerous man back on the streets,” Torres Cappello said. “People should be outraged that this could ever happen.”
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