About the only piece of evidence the prosecution didn’t have in the murder case against 20-year-old Patrick Fluker was an eyewitness testifying that he was seen shooting 29-year-old Tiffany Mendez in the head.The youngest of four men accused in the robbery and shooting death of a 63-year-old man inside a DeKalb County airport reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Matthu R. Sanders, 28, of Hudson, will go before DeKalb Superior Judge Kevin Wallace this month to enter a formal plea and face sentencing, but according to court officials Sanders signed a plea agreement last week.
According to police, Sanders will plead guilty to a single charge of armed robbery causing serious bodily injury. His prison sentence will be capped at 30 years. He is charged with murder, felony murder and armed robbery.
Sanders must also testify against his co-defendants: Jeffrey Cain, 51, of St. Cloud, Fla.; Clint D. Hess, 39, of Corunna; and Matthew W. Nelson, 49.
According to court documents, Cain, Hess and Sanders hatched a plan to kill Raymond Morrow over $4,000 Hess owed him.
In May, a customer found Morrow shot to death inside a flea market he owned at the Walker/Rowe Airport on U.S. 6 east of Waterloo.
Sanders met Cain in Florida and drove him to Indiana, staying in Nelson’s Steuben County home. With Cain in need of money to get back to Florida, Hess, Sanders and Cain hatched a plan to rob Morrow, who they believed carried $1,000 with him at all times, according to court documents.
The three other defendants are set to stand trial in the next few months. Cain is charged with murder and armed robbery. Hess and Nelson are each charged with murder, felony murder and armed robbery.
