Placerville Man Gets 10 Years In Cold Case Homicide After Body Found Sealed In Metal Tank

EL DORADO COUNTY (CBS13) — A man has pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge in a cold case killing nearly a year after the victim's body was recovered from a metal tank.

Prosecutors say Eric Mehlmauer of Placerville killed Tobias Kaiser on Nov. 30, 2006 in a Fair Play rental home during an argument over a theft. After Kaiser's death, prosecutors say Mehlmauer had help putting the body inside a metal tank that they welded shut and buried on the property. To help cover up the crime, prosecutors say the group replaced floor tiles and the wall board in the room where Kaiser was killed.

Mehlmauer wasn't arrested until January of 2015, and Kaiser's body was recovered two months later.