A handyman accused of killing a Jensen Beach woman and then hiding her body in a septic tank has pleaded guilty to murder and will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Keoki Demich, 34, was sentenced to three consecutive life terms Tuesday for the murder of Cynthia Cole earlier this year.

By pleading guilty, prosecutors agreed to waive their notice to seek the death penalty.

Demich will serve three life sentences for first-degree murder, burglary of an occupied dwelling with assault or battery and sexual battery. He was also convicted of third-degree grand theft and grand theft of a motor vehicle.

Cole’s body was found March 5 submerged in the septic tank — about 4 feet underground — after hours of excavation.

The 57-year-old woman had been missing for more than a week after attending the Jammin’ Jensen event in downtown Jensen Beach.

Demich was a longtime handyman for Cole.

According to court documents, Demich hid inside Cole’s shower while waiting for her to return home.

Records show he attacked her, drowned her inside her bathtub and then proceeded to sexually abuse her before burying her inside the septic tank.

Sheriff William Snyder said investigators secured surveillance video that showed Demich walking away from Cole’s car on the night she disappeared.

The sheriff said Cole and Demich had known each other for years.

Scripps Only Content 2022

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Orlando (Lon) Marie Jensen
May 25, 1926 – September 5, 2022
Orlando (Lon) Marie Jensen, 96, died peacefully in her sleep at home in San Rafael, CA.
Orlanda Marie Demattei was born May 25th, 1926 in San Francisco, CA to Pierina Vene and Antonio Demattei. Although Lon spent most of her childhood in San Francisco, her family moved to their ranch in Petaluma/Cotati, just before WWII. They returned to San Francisco at the peak of WWII to assist the extended Demattei family in their truck farming and produce business.
In San Francisco, Lon continued her schooling, graduating from Commerce High School and attending Lux College for Women.
In 1947, she attended a party of a good high school friend who introduced Lon to “favorite cousin” Jim Jensen. Initially, Lon was not impressed but was eventually won over by his charm and lovable joking nature. Jim, on the other hand, was immediately smitten with Lon’s impressive beauty and stature. Without Lon’s knowledge, early in their courtship, Jim told everyone that he was going to marry her. Following a one-year engagement, on June 4, 1949, Jim and Lon were married. They continued their marriage journey enjoying the growth of their family, savoring life’s joys, and lovingly supporting life’s challenges until Jim’s death in 1994.
Lon spent her married life as a homemaker and stay-at-home Mom raising three boys. During those years, she was always available and willing to get emersed in school, church, and scout events and activities. She was well known and respected for her skills in cooking, baking, and hosting parties and dinners for friends and family. She was able to seamlessly prepare a dinner party on short notice and developed good teamwork with Jim in planning for large party events at their home. In her later years, she perfected her skills in needlework and cross stitching, which produced many beautiful works of art.
After her boys were raised, Lon found time to pursue volunteer work with, among others, St. Mary’s Hospital and as an elementary school teacher’s aide for the San Francisco Unified School District. In 2002, after 50 years in her San Francisco home, Lon moved to Marin County.
Lon is preceded in her passing by her loving husband Jim, parents Pierina and Antonio, loving grandmother Theresa Bonacchi, loving Aunt Josette Giammattei, and siblings Richard Demattei, Edmund Demattei, and Norma Beauchamp.
Lon is survived by her three sons, Richard Jensen (Jan) of Corte Madera, Paul of San Rafael, and Stephen (Mella), as well as five grandchildren, Seamus (Kaitlin), Brendan (Kaitlyn), Patrick, Michael, and Fiona , and great-grandson Liam. Also, survived by her sister-in-law Maguerite Jensen-Owens.
Many thanks to Sutter Health Care at Home for their gentle hospice support to Lon in her final weeks. Lastly, a very special thanks to Esther Turner, Lon’s loving, and devoted caregiver for the last seven years.
Private services.

Published by San Francisco Chronicle on Sep. 7, 2022.

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