Friday, August 13, 2010

Lake Wales, FL: Man arrested here in 2001 Florida slaying

By: Jessie Gable

Police believe a truck driver arrested in Chattanooga in a nine-year-old cold-case killing likely told someone here about the crime or the location of the victim’s body.

“We believe very well that he communicated to a girlfriend, ex-girlfriend or close friend in Chattanooga that he committed this heinous crime,” Polk County (Fla.) Sheriff Grady Judd said Thursday.

Dion Kaseta, 50, of Maryville, Tenn., was indicted Wednesday in Florida, and charged with second-degree murder in the 2001 death of Kimberly Mimmovich. He is being held in the Hamilton County Jail.

Kaseta was arrested around noon at his job at U.S. Xpress on Jenkins Road where he had worked since June 2008, said Greg Thompson, spokesman for U.S. Xpress.

Officials believe Kaseta killed his then-girlfriend at her home in Lake Wales, Fla. However, he told police he last saw her on a beach near Fort Lauderdale during an impromptu trip to see his sister.

Judd said he believes her remains are still in Florida, but he is not certain.

Judd said the case had been built on circumstantial evidence, and the arrest and indictment were based on recent discoveries that tied previous evidence together.

Officials are not releasing further details because the investigation is ongoing, he said.

U.S. Xpress employees described Kaseta as an “average driver” and said they did not notice anything alarming in his performance.

Authorities notified U.S. Xpress employees of the situation a few days in advance, Thompson said. From there, U.S. Xpress officials changed Kaseta’s driving routes, leading him to the company headquarters where police were waiting.

“At the time, he was not aware he was being arrested,” Thompson said. “The authorities said they considered him a flight risk and asked us to keep the details confidential.”

Thompson describes the company’s employee background search as “pretty extensive” and said there was nothing in Kaseta’s records that would keep the firm from hiring him.

Judd said recovering the remains is not imperative to convicting Kaseta.

“Just know that this is not the first time we have arrested and convicted someone for murder without a body,” Judd said.

Kaseta was arrested less than three miles from where Jason Andrews, another fugitive from Florida who was arrested in Chattanooga in July on a murder charge.

No comments: