Dana Martin/FileBURLINGTON, Vt. -
He's behind bars for killing a Barre teenager. Now he's implicated in an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting two people from St. Albans.
Forty-five year-old Dana Martin was convicted for the 2000 rape and murder of 15-year-old Deandra Florucci. He's serving two life sentences in a New Mexico prison. And that's where authorities say he befriended 41-year-old Mark Staake. He recently got out of jail and traveled to Vermont, where he was stopped by federal authorities at the Highgate border crossing.
Staake's nephew, 23-year-old Tanner Ruane, was arrested in Rotterdam, New York. Police say they found tools and documents in Ruane's car -- including the identities of the intended victims in St. Albans.
Authorities have not revealed anything more about the connection between those people and Dana Martin, but they did reveal that Martin might be linked to the disappearances of other people around the country. Vermont state police do not believe Martin was involved in any other homicides in Vermont.
