Helen Sanders slaying

Daniel Sanders pleaded guilty to manslaughter and felony evidence tampering for the drowning of his mother and attempting to hide her body.

Daniel Sanders, 20, pleaded guilty Tuesday to voluntary manslaughter and felony evidence tampering in the August 2008 drowning of his mother, Helen Sanders.

Daniel Sanders, 20, appeared in court to hear testimony about his August 2008 arrest. According to Thursday's testimony, police found the body of Sanders' mother in the trunk during a traffic stop.

Daniel Sanders, 20, appeared in court on Wednesday for a motion hearing. Sanders was arrested in August 2008 after a Columbia police officer found the body of Sanders' mother beneath a tire in his trunk. He is accused of drowning her and trying to hide her body.

Daniel Sanders will go to trial in March for second-degree murder in the death of his mother in August 2008.

The trial of Daniel A. Sanders, 19, has been postponed while the Missouri Supreme Court decides on a motion that the jury be drawn from Adair County. He is charged with murder in the death of his mother.

Columbia police have yet to make any arrests in the homicide of Helen Sanders, whose body was found Aug. 14 in the trunk of a car driven by her 19-year-old son. Police say they're waiting for the results of more lab tests.

According to court documents, the deputy medical examiner found fluid on Sanders' lungs and she had broken ribs and a broken sternum. Now police are trying to find out whether she drowned in her bathtub.

Court documents show that when police pulled over MU student Daniel Sanders, 19, he had scratches on his arms and face, his dead mother was wrapped in a blanket in the trunk, a tire was lying on top of her body and a new shovel was lying next to her.

 ‘I thought it was a pretty straightforward case, but it's not,' said Eddie Adelstein,  Boone County Medical Examiner.

Daniel A. Sanders, 19, was arrested on Friday afternoon after the body of his mother was found in the trunk of a car on Thursday night. Bond was set at $250,000.

Police found the body of 53-year-0ld Helen C. Sanders in the trunk of a car Thursday night.

An autopsy is planned for 8:30 Friday morning to help determine the time and cause of death.

The body of a woman was discovered in a vehicle’s trunk Thursday night near Stadium Boulevard and U.S. 63 after the driver was pulled over on suspicion of unrelated traffic violations. The cause and time of the woman’s death were not immediately known, according to police.