Kingman handyman guilty of killing businessman in 2015
An Arizona handyman has been convicted in the shooting death of his employer in what began as a highly publicized missing-persons case.
A Mohave County Superior Court jury deliberated for two hours Friday before finding Al Blanco, 63, of Kingman guilty of first-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and abandonment of a body.
Blanco is set to be sentenced to life in prison Feb. 19, bringing closure in a case that started when businessman Sid Cranston, 40, of Kingman, vanished in June 2015.
After a number of unsuccessful searches, an FBI agent broke the case during an interview with Blanco associate Bill Sanders in January 2017. Sanders led authorities to a ranch about 20 miles east of Kingman, where Cranston’s body was found in a grave.
Sanders, 56, of Kingman, testified that Blanco asked him to come to the ranch, where he learned that Blanco had killed Cranston. Sanders said he helped bury Cranston and kept quiet for some 18 months.
As part of a plea agreement, Sanders pleaded guilty to concealment of a dead body. Sanders will be placed on probation and faces up to one year in jail when he’s sentenced.
