Yesterday (Apr 15) the Seminole County Grand Jury issued an indictment charging Thomas Lewis GARNER (59) with First Degree Premeditated Murder in connection with the 1984 death of Naval Cadet Pamela Cahanes (25).

Cahanes’ body was discovered Aug. 5, 1984, outside an abandoned home on West 1st Street in Sanford. Investigators established she had been beaten and strangled to death, however were unable to identify her killer. Samples were recovered from beneath Cahanes fingernails and from her underwear. Those samples later produced DNA evidence that was matched to GARNER after a years long and extensive investigation by the Seminole County Sheriff's Office. GARNER was arrested at his home in Jacksonville on March 13, 2019 and later transfered to the Seminole County jail.

The Grand Jury heard testimony from a Seminole County Criminal Investigator before returning with the indictment. GARNER remains in custody on No Bond and no trial date has been set.

Todd Brown
Public Information &
Communications
(321) 617-7310

Office of the State Attorney
18th Judicial Circuit
2725 Judge Fran Jamieson
Way Building D
Viera, Fl. 32940