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Oceanside

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Russell Eugene Sanders pleaded guilty Monday in Vista Superior Court to helping convicted murderer Laura Troiani kill her husband, Marine Staff Sgt. Carlo Troiani, in August, 1984.

Sanders, 24, was the fourth of Troiani’s five co-defendants to plead guilty to first-degree murder in exchange for prosecutors dropping allegations of murder by ambush and for profit that could have led to the death penalty. Sanders is expected to be sentenced on Jan. 28 to 25 years to life in prison.

Sanders made the phone call that lured Carlo Troiani to a desolate road, where he was shot to death. Since being arrested, Sanders was also convicted of assaulting a fellow inmate in the Vista jail with a broomstick.

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All of Troiani’s co-defendants were Marines at Camp Pendleton.

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