Arrest made in murder of missing Sahuarita woman

A Tucson man was arrested Tuesday in the murder of 89-year-old Sahuarita resident Robin Satinsky, who had been reported missing since November.

A break in the case came when skeletal remains discovered along Interstate 19 in June were found to have belonged to Satinsky, Sahuarita Police Sgt. Matt McGlone said Tuesday.

Edward Terrazas Villa, 63, was arrested based on DNA evidence found in Satinsky’s car, which was discovered Nov. 7 — two days after her family reported her missing — in a South Tucson parking lot.

McGlone said Satinsky had befriended Villa, who worked as her handyman, and that Villa “has been a person of interest in this case for a long time.”

The medical examiner, Dr. Bruce Parks, said he could not yet release details on how, or when, Satinsky was killed. The motive was not known.

The victim was last seen on Oct. 30. Her family, concerned that they couldn’t reach Satinsky, who was in the early stages of dementia, asked police to conduct a welfare check. They found her vehicle was missing but her purse was found inside her home.

On June 6, a motorist whose vehicle had broken down on northbound I-19 near Pima Mine Road discovered a body, later identified as Satinsky’s, in a drainage culvert, wrapped in a plastic garbage bag.

Sahuarita investigators recently linked DNA found in Satinsky’s car to Edward Villa, which led to his arrest, McGlone said. After Villa was questioned at the Sahuarita Police Station Tuesday, he was taken to the Pima County Jail.

When Satinsky’s car was found, Villa was working for Labor Finders, a temporary agency on South 12th Street in Tucson, said McGlone.

In November, the Green Valley News reported that Sahuarita police were looking for a man named “Ed,” who friends of Satinksy’s said might have information on her whereabouts. Satinsky told them she was giving Ed golf lessons in exchange for yard work.

jrichardson@gvnews.com | 547-9726