Anthony Sanchez bound over for trial for murder of OU ballerina

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- A state prison inmate will stand trial for murder in the December 1996 kidnapping, rape and murder of University of Oklahoma student Juli Busken.<br/><br/>Anthony Sanchez is charged

Wednesday, February 23rd 2005, 12:30 pm

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- A state prison inmate will stand trial for murder in the December 1996 kidnapping, rape and murder of University of Oklahoma student Juli Busken.

Anthony Sanchez is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree rape, sodomy and kidnapping of Busken. Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty.

Special District Judge Rod Ring ruled Thursday morning that there is enough evidence to try Sanchez and Cleveland County District Attorney Tim Kuykendall says the trial is likely to begin in October.

Busken disappeared in the early morning hours of December 20th, 1996 after dropping a friend off at an airport as she prepared to go home to Benton, Arkansas, for Christmas. Her body was found later that day at Lake Stanley Draper.

Sanchez was an inmate of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections when DNA evidence identified him last year as a suspect in the case. Sanchez was serving time on a burglary conviction and was required by state law to provide DNA.