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Man charged with murder after woman found bound, stabbed 38 times, police say

NORTH PORT, Fla. — A Florida man has been charged with murder, months after police found a woman brutally murdered.

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The North Port Police Department arrested Michael Douglas on charges that he killed a woman Sept. 26, officers announced in a news release.

Officers described the scene of the crime as “gruesome,” and said that the victim had been found lying on her back, with her hands bound behind her body and her mouth taped, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.

In court documents obtained by WWSB, police said the victim was brutally murdered and suffered 38 stab wounds.

The victim’s daughter told police that Douglas had been pursuing her mother romantically, while pressuring her to end her current relationship, WBBH reported. The daughter also told police that Douglas had been to her mother’s home more than once, but had only been in the garage or outside.

Documents show the victim and Douglas were in the process of buying a home together when she was killed, police said in a report obtained by the Herald-Tribune.

The North Port Police Department said the months-long investigation tied the suspect to the murder with video, as well as forensic and DNA evidence.

“It is due to hard work and dedication from our agency, which will help our victim’s family find some sort of justice for this senseless and heinous crime,” North Port Police Chief Todd Garrison said.

Douglas was taken to the Sarasota County Jail on charges of first-degree murder, according to online records.