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Sidney Cranston update: Man pleads guilty to hiding Arizona Realtor's body

Sidney Cranston update: Man pleads guilty to hiding Arizona Realtor's body
Posted at 10:59 AM, Feb 20, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-20 15:55:15-05

A handyman has pleaded guilty to concealing the body of a real estate agent who disappeared two years ago while showing a property in a remote area outside the northwestern city of Kingman. The handyman's co-worker faces trial in May on first-degree murder charges in the killing of the agent.

William Glen Sanders, 55, entered his plea in Superior Court on Friday, the Mohave Daily News reported. A charge of tampering with physical evidence was dismissed.

He is scheduled to be sentenced after the trial of Alfredo Gerardo Blanco in the death of 40-year-old Sidney Cranston Jr. The real estate agent was last seen on June 16, 2015, when he was showing property to an unknown client.

Cranston's remains were discovered Jan. 7, 2017, buried on a remote property east of Kingman. The medical examiner's office said he died of a gunshot wound.

Sanders and Blanco reportedly worked for Cranston as handymen and Blanco also managed some of the real estate agent's properties.  Prosecutors said Sanders helped bury Cranston's body in a hole that Blanco had dug using a backhoe. Sanders later reportedly offered to help in the search for Cranston's body.

Under his plea agreement, Sanders is to be sentenced to supervised probation.

Deputy Mohave County Attorney Bob Moon said Sanders has agreed to testify at Blanco's trial. If he doesn't, Moon will withdraw the plea agreement.