William J. Cumber III was sentenced to 20 years in state prison by 12th Circuit Court Judge Diana Moreland. Cumber stood emotionless Oct. 20 with his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Franklin Roberts, who, with Assistant State Attorney Art Brown, agreed that Cumber met the terms of a “cooperation agreement,” entitling him to a two-year reduction in his initial 22 year, one-month sentence.
Cumber pleaded guilty to murdering 49-year-old islander Sabine Musil-Buehler Oct. 15 in a deal that led authorities to find her remains on the beach north of the 81st Street access in Holmes Beach.
His sentence to the Florida Department of Corrections includes credit for time served since his October 2012 arrest in connection with Musil-Buehler’s disappearance.
Cumber and Musil-Buehler lived together in an apartment on Magnolia Avenue in Anna Maria at the time of her disappearance. She had not been seen since Nov. 4, 2008.
Cumber’s imprisonment will run concurrent with his 13.5-year sentence ordered in May 2009 after he violated probation for an unrelated arson — a 2005 fire he set at a former girlfriend’s home in Bradenton.
At the Oct. 20 sentencing hearing, Moreland held the case open for possible rulings on restitution by Cumber.