Australian man, 82, guilty of 1992 killing

An Australian retiree was convicted of manslaughter Tuesday for the 1992 killing of a woman whose remains were found last year at his former home. Ronald Pennington, 82, was to be sentenced Wednesday afternoon in Supreme Court in Perth, The West Australian reported. Cariad Anderson-Slater, a native of Scotland who had recently moved to Australia with her husband and son, vanished in 1992. A taxi driver said he dropped her off at Pennington's house, but Pennington said at the time that he did not let her in, and her husband, David Slater, became the prime suspect. Pennington, who had moved to Tasmania, was arrested last year after the skeletal remains were discovered in his former backyard. "The police investigation in 2011 seems to be very thorough and competent," Justice John McKechnie said Wednesday after hearing arguments from prosecution and defense on the sentencing. "Neither of those words can be used in 1992. The police investigation then seemed to focus on Mr. Slater and seemed to ignore the person who was likely to last see her alive."