Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 36

Thread: Anthony Joseph Garcia - Nebraska Death Row

  1. #1
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JimKay's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Posts
    1,122

    Anthony Joseph Garcia - Nebraska Death Row






    Fired Indiana doctor arrested on suspicion of four Nebraska slayings

    OMAHA, Neb. -- Authorities arrested an Indiana doctor Monday on suspicion of carrying out two attacks in Omaha over the past five years in which four people were killed who had ties to a local university medical school that fired him in 2001.

    Dr. Anthony Garcia, who now lives in Terre Haute, Ind., was arrested by Illinois State Police during a traffic stop Monday in Union County, which is in the south of the state near Illinois' borders with Indiana and Missouri, Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said. Officers said he appeared to be intoxicated when they arrested him that he had a .45-caliber handgun with him.

    Garcia, 40, was being held in Illinois on suspicion of four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of using a weapon to commit a felony, Schmaderer said. An Illinois State Police official declined to discuss details of Garcia's arrest or detention, and said any questions should go to Omaha police.

    Garcia didn't have a listed phone number in Terre Haute or in Chicago, where he previously lived, and it wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney. No one answered the phone at his family's home in Walnut, Calif., Monday evening.

    Public records show that since 2003, Garcia has held medical licenses in California, Illinois and Indiana, but his temporary Indiana license expired in January.

    Investigators believe that in May, Garcia broke into the Omaha home of Creighton University medical school pathology professor Roger Brumback and fatally shot him and stabbed his wife Mary to death, Schmaderer said. They also believe Garcia was behind a 2008 home invasion in which the 11-year-old son and family housekeeper of another pathology department professor, William Hunter, were stabbed to death.

    In 2001, Roger Brumback and Hunter fired Garcia, who was a department resident, because he had displayed erratic behavior, Schmaderer said. The police chief didn't provide further details of the alleged behavior and he declined to discuss the evidence used to build the case against Garcia.

    A task force of local, state and FBI investigators has been working on the case, and its members believe Garcia fits all the criteria of a serial killer, Schmaderer said.

    "We didn't feel this individual would stop unless an arrest was made," he said.

    Schmaderer said investigators believe Garcia acted alone, and that they are also searching several places where Garcia has lived since 2001.

    The Omaha attacks happened in neighborhoods where homicides are rare. The city averages about 40 per year.

    One of the Brumbacks' three children, Darryl, said the family had no comment about the arrest. A male relative of Sherman's also declined to speak. The Hunter family didn't respond to a phone message seeking comment.

    Hunter's son, Thomas Hunter, and housekeeper, Shirlee Sherman, were killed at the family's 3,700-square-foot home in the historic neighborhood of Dundee, which is home to some of the city's most prominent residents, including billionaire investor Warren Buffet. The case was featured last year on an episode of "America's Most Wanted," and a $54,000 reward was offered.

    Schmaderer said Monday that investigators don't believe the boy and the housekeeper were the intended targets of the attack.

    Authorities have released few details about the attack on the Brumbacks, other than manner in which they were killed. Their bodies were discovered in their west Omaha home on May 14.

    The task force was set up after the Brumbacks' deaths to investigate whether they were tied to the unsolved 2008 killings. Schmaderer declined to say what led investigators to Garcia.

    http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013...-four-slayings

  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Man charged in 4 slayings wants closed court hearing

    Anthony J. Garcia, accused of killing four Omahans, wants his next court hearing closed to the public.

    His lawyers filed a motion in Douglas County Court on Monday asking that his preliminary hearing be closed "in an attempt to not further taint the potential jury pool."

    The lawyers wrote that the media coverage of the case has been "extremely pervasive" and information from Wednesday's preliminary hearing would further hamper Garcia's chances at a fair trial.

    Garcia is being represented by Alison and Bob Motta, a husband-and-wife lawyer team from Illinois, and local attorneys Dan Stockmann and Pat Dunn.

    At a preliminary hearing prosecutors present evidence to show there is probable cause to believe the defendant committed the crime.

    The court is scheduled to hear arguments about closing the hearing at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, immediately before the preliminary hearing, which was scheduled for 9 a.m.

    Douglas County Prosecutor Don Kleine said he doubts a judge would close any proceedings.

    "We don't have secret hearings up at the courthouse here," Kleine said.

    Meanwhile, Douglas County Sheriff Tim Dunning announced Tuesday he plans to increase security at the courthouse.

    A photo ID will be required to enter the courtroom, and people won't be able to come in while the hearing is in session, he said in a press release.

    He also said there will be "a more focused" security presence at the courthouse.

    Garcia is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in connection with some of the most high-profile crimes in recent Omaha history.

    He's also charged with three counts of use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony and one count of use of a firearm to commit a felony.

    Kleine has said he's considering asking for the death penalty.

    In 2008, someone broke into the home of Creighton University professors Drs. William and Claire Hunter, and stabbed their 11-year-old son, Thomas, as well as the family's house cleaner, Shirlee Sherman.

    In May, someone broke into the home of William Hunter's colleague Dr. Roger Brumback, shot Brumback and stabbed his wife, Mary Brumback.

    Garcia, a doctor, was a resident in the Creighton pathology program for about a year until Roger Brumback and William Hunter fired him in 2001. Authorities say Garcia blamed them for his lack of professional success.

    He was arrested and charged in July. Garcia is being held without bail.

    http://lexch.com/news/regional/man-c...9bb2963f4.html
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Suspected serial killer Anthony Garcia back in court; 'Now he's angry,' attorney says

    A doctor accused of a serial killing was back in court Thursday – renewing his request that prosecutors turn over reports on evidence in the case against him.

    Dr. Anthony Garcia walked into court head down. Noticeably thinner, he sported a full bushy beard and filled his attorney's ear – talking to him through much of the hearing as Judge Duane Dougherty ensured that prosecutors were continuing to turn over reports in the case.

    After the routine hearing, his attorney Bob Motta suggested that the defense will have plenty to investigate as far as other suspects in the killings.

    Prosecutors say Garcia, miffed about his continual inability to get jobs or medical licenses, killed Dr. Roger Brumback and his wife, Mary, both 65, in their Omaha home on Mother's Day.

    They also allege that Garcia killed the family house cleaner and son of his other former boss in the Creighton University Medical Center pathology department, Dr. William Hunter. Eleven-year-old Thomas Hunter and Shirlee Sherman, 57, were stabbed to death in March 2008 in the Hunters' Dundee home.

    Sherman's relatives filed into the first and second row of the courtroom Thursday.

    Motta said his client is in a "much better state mentally" than he was when he was arrested.

    "At this point, he's getting a little feisty," Motta said. "At first he was stunned (at his arrest). Now he's angry."

    Motta said the defense is awaiting reports, and it will launch "a major investigation" when it gets them. Among the people Motta is interested in: another former pathology student who was dismissed from the program and eventually became a disgraced medical examiner in Canada.

    Motta acknowledged that prosecutors have locked on Garcia because of evidence he was in Omaha on Mother's Day. Convenience store surveillance cameras and credit card bills place Garcia in Omaha the day the Brumbacks were believed to have died. Plus, Garcia's cell phone had Internet searches for the Brumbacks' address.

    And, prosecutors say, his DNA profile was found on the door of Dr. Chhanda Bewtra, another Creighton pathologist with whom he had run-ins. Bewtra's house was broken into on Mother's Day, but she was not home.

    http://www.omaha.com/article/20131205/NEWS/131209369
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  4. #4
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Defending Garcia Pt. 1: Preparation for a capital murder case

    The man accused in the Creighton killings, Anthony Garcia, is a few months away from being in front of a jury. It's arguably the biggest capital murder trial in Omaha's history. His defense team has put in hundreds of hours to try and prove his innocence.

    Garcia, the former Creighton University Pathology resident, is accused of killing Thomas Hunter and Shirlee Sherman in 2008 and Dr. Roger and Mary Brumback in 2013.

    Since the day he was arrested in Illinois in July 2013 his defense team of Alison, Bob Motta Jr., and Bob Motta Sr. have steadfastly professed his innocence. Almost a year and a half later they're 3 months from trial. The trio has dedicated a good portion of their time to the case 500 miles away.

    "10% of the work is in the courtroom, 90% of the work is before you get there,” said Bob Motta Sr.

    They continue to go through the evidence, interviews, and documents in some capacity everyday single day. It usually starts in a dedicated room in their office in the Chicago suburb of Aurora.

    They go through thousands of police reports, roughly 50,000 documents. They include thousands of interviews, thousands of photos, and hundreds of data CD's or memory cards. They log everything by linking reports to witnesses, and persons of interest to piece together their own theory.

    "You have to go through everything and say here's a lead that the cops just completely bailed on and why. Then follow it and see if there's an alibi there at the end of the day,” Alison Motta explained. "So for every place they drop off we pick up."

    The Mottas spend lots of time on the phone with their client, witnesses, experts, and private investigators. They've traveled thousands of miles, even retracing the paths their client allegedly took through Illinois and Iowa to be familiar with what could've happened.

    "If we want to develop our theory of defense, I have to have a background for doing it,” Bob Motta Jr. described. "We have to look (at every report) because we may find the piece of evidence that frees our client."

    One of the biggest challenges is the time span. Evidence dates back to 2001 when Garcia was terminated from the Creighton University Pathology Department.

    The Mottas received new documents, and CD's to go over as recently as October. They say they'll give it just as much time and attention especially since their client's life hangs in the balance.

    "It's a lot to handle when if you make a mistake the wrong person dies, and that can't be undone," Alison concluded.

    Trial is still scheduled for February and they anticipate it will last 6 weeks. Until then they are still waiting on hearings for a motion to sever and a motion to change venue.

    http://omahasuntimes.com/2014/11/def...l-murder-case/
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  5. #5
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    December 3, 2014

    Garcia quadruple murder trial delayed


    Omaha, NE -- The man accused in the Creighton killings is back in court Wednesday. A judge continued Anthony Garcia’s trial, and also heard more arguments as to why his arrest should be thrown out.

    He was initially reluctant, but Garcia waived his right to a speedy trial in Douglas County District Court, so the trial won't start on February 17th as scheduled.

    “It was just a hard pill for him to swallow to acknowledge that you're waiving it because he just remembers how long he's there and he feels like he's been there long enough," Garcia’s attorney, Alison Motta explained.

    "Certainly it's a large case from the standpoints of evidence, witnesses, and facts so it takes time. I'd like to keep things progressing,” said Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine.

    Garcia is accused of murdering Thomas Hunter and Shirlee Sherman in 2008 and Dr. Roger and Mary Brumback in 2013. Authorities say Garcia carried out the killings because he was upset over being fired from the Creighton University Pathology Department in 2001 and struggled to find employment after that. Dr. Brumback and Thomas Hunter’s father, Dr. William Hunter, were in charge of the program at the time.

    Wednesday, they also finished arguments about his July 2013 arrest in southern Illinois for four revenge murders in Omaha. His defense says an arrest warrant wasn't signed when he was taken into custody. They say the local FBI had no reason to believe he was going to kill people, and lied to Indiana authorities on having a warrant.

    The prosecution says probable cause to arrest Garcia for the 4 murders was present, and the threat was imminent.

    "We feel confident that everything was done the way it was supposed to be done under the law and the officers acted reasonably and in good faith as they could under the circumstances,” Kleine described.

    Authorities also detailed how the killer may have gotten in the Brumback and Hunter home during the hearing.

    Previous testimony revealed there was no forced entry to either home, so the victims may have let the suspect in.

    FBI Special Agent Jonathan Robitaille testified they believe the killer was wearing a disguise in the 2008 Dundee murders, and that 3 of the 4 victims were likely stabbed from behind on the right side. Roger Brumback was shot and killed before being stabbed.

    Alison Motta says the stab wound patterns are not the same on each victim as investigators believe.

    "I think as we get closer the state is trying to make everything fit in some box that it realizes it just doesn't fit and I think that it was a very good representation that things don't fit in the box," Motta noted.

    The judge did not make a decision Wednesday on throwing out the arrest. Both sides will have a chance to make their case again in January.

    A new trial date hasn't been scheduled, and will be set in about a month.

    http://www.jrn.com/kmtv/news/Garcia-...284670251.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  6. #6
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Janurary 14, 2015

    Update: Garcia Murder Trial Rescheduled For September


    Accused killer Dr. Anthony Garcia has been rescheduled to stand trial on September 14, 2015. Trial had been scheduled to begin in February. In a December court appearance Dr. Garcia waived his right to a speedy trial.

    Garcia is awaiting trial for the 2008 murders of Thomas Hunter and Shirlee Sherman and the 2013 murders of Dr. Roger Brumback and his wife Mary.

    Dr. Brumback and Thomas Hunter’s father William fired Garcia from the Creighton Pathology Department in 2001. Prosecutors allege Garcia held a grudge against them.

    The judge is still considering a number of defense motions, including whether authorities had probable cause to stop and arrest Garcia in Illinois in July 2013.

    http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/G...284657771.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  7. #7
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    Death penalty repeal throws a lifeline to Nikko Jenkins, Anthony Garcia

    By Todd Cooper
    The Omaha World-Herald

    The repeal of the death penalty means that the two men each connected to four Omaha killings — convicted murderer Nikko Jenkins and murder suspect Anthony J. Garcia — will no longer face the death penalty.

    Nor will Roberto Martinez-Marinero, 25, accused of killing his mother and throwing his 4-year-old brother, Josue, into the Elkhorn River, drowning him. Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine had announced plans to seek the death penalty in that case.

    At a Judiciary Committee hearing in March, Kleine testified in favor of the death penalty, but he also said he was frustrated with the state’s inability to “get its act together” as far as an execution method.

    Kleine, a death penalty supporter, said he was somewhat surprised by Wednesday’s vote.

    The prosecutor, who helped put child killers Roy Ellis and Arthur Lee Gales on death row, said that he has spoken with Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson and that it is unclear how the repeal will affect current death row inmates. Nebraska has no means to carry out an execution.

    As for those pending a death penalty decision, Kleine said, “it’s over.”

    “To me, the Legislature represents the people — and the people have spoken,” Kleine said. “It’s the end of it.”

    Solicitor General James Smith of the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office has said that if a death sentence is not “final, ” it would become a life sentence once Legislative Bill 268 becomes law.

    A death sentence does not become final, he said, until the Nebraska Supreme Court affirms it in the automatic appeal afforded for such cases.

    The new law would affect anyone awaiting trial or sentencing for first-degree murder who faces the possibility of a death sentence.

    In addition to Jenkins, that would include Garcia, 41, a former Creighton pathology resident charged with killing four Omahans connected to Creighton’s pathology department. His trial is pending.

    Jenkins, 27, was found guilty after pleading no contest to shooting and killing Juan Uribe-Pena, Jorge Cajiga-Ruiz, Curtis Bradford and Andrea Kruger in August 2013.

    For Jenkins, the end of the death penalty wouldn’t necessarily mean the end of his case. If he has no death penalty hearing to face, Jenkins is expected to try to withdraw his no-contest pleas. But judges rarely allow such withdrawals.

    http://www.omaha.com/news/crime/deat...37126234a.html

  8. #8
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Hearing goes over last-minute details on eve of Garcia trial

    By Don Granese
    WOWT NBC Omaha

    Another pretrial hearing was held Friday afternoon for Dr. Anthony Garcia, charged in four Omaha murders.

    The hearing included a review of how jury selection will be done when the trial start on April 4th. One hundred and twenty jurors will be called. A video orientation and slide show will be given with the judge's overview of how the death penalty works.

    Then they’ll ask if anyone has objections to a court case that involved the death penalty. Judge Randall believes the death penalty still exists in Nebraska (the Legislature voted last May to override Gov. Ricketts veto of their vote to eliminate the death penalty, but a petition drive put the issue on the November general election ballot).

    Dr. Garcia is accused of murdering Thomas Hunter and Shirlee Sherman in 2008 and Dr. Roger Brumback and his wife Mary in 2013. Police believe Garcia sought revenge after doctors Brumback and William Hunter (Thomas' father) fired him in 2001.

    Also discussed was whether or not to exclude gun damage (a gun clip was found at Brumback house). Defense will file a motion that because damaged gun parts were found at the scene that were similar to ones Garcia owned, experts have told them these parts found are in most guns so they’d like the presentation of gun parts to be excluded as evidence.

    Another item of discussion is the defense claim that dogs can’t smell specific human scents. An expert provided by the state who helped coordinate the deployment of OPD dogs in 2014 has evidence that they can and he is pointing to points at the scene that show these dogs did identify a path in the Brumback's neighborhood.

    Both sides meet again next Friday to do a walk-through of the chambers so they know where the trial will play out and the judge may rule then whether the gun evidence is admissible.

    http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/P...373577611.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  9. #9
    Senior Member Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    101
    Nebraska Supreme Court rejects appeal to reinstate Anthony Garcia's dismissed defense attorney

    Anthony Garcia’s former lead defense attorney will stay his former attorney.

    The Nebraska Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Garcia’s attorneys to reinstate Alison Motta as part of the quadruple murder suspect’s defense team.

    With its ruling filed Wednesday, the Nebraska Supreme Court may have ended one chapter in a nearly three-year-old case that has been bogged down the past two months by issues that are all about Garcia’s attorneys and little about his guilt or innocence.

    On the eve of Garcia’s scheduled April 4 trial, Douglas County District Judge Gary Randall kicked Motta off the case after she made repeated comments to news media claiming that a DNA sample “conclusively exonerates” Garcia in two March 2008 slayings. A DNA expert testified that the sample does not exonerate Garcia or implicate the man Motta identified.

    The judge allowed Motta’s husband, Robert Motta Jr., and father-in-law, Robert Motta Sr., to continue on the defense team but said Alison Motta could have no speaking role — nor could she sit at the defense table.

    Garcia’s local attorney, Jeremy Jorgenson, said Garcia had instructed his attorneys to appeal the decision.

    In an early April letter provided to the high court by Jorgenson, Garcia wrote that he was upset that Randall “did not allow me to speak ... (or) let my chosen counsel, the Mottas, say anything further or object on my behalf.”

    “I am requesting in writing that my attorneys immediately appeal the decision on the district court that removed Alison Motta from my defense team,” Garcia wrote then.

    In May, Garcia changed his tune. He wrote to Judge Randall, insisting that he never wanted an appeal of Alison Motta’s dismissal.

    “Even if the Nebraska Supreme Court would allow Alison Motta to be my attorney,” Garcia wrote, “I choose not to have her as my attorney.”

    Garcia’s attorneys had also asked the high court to appoint a guardian to oversee Garcia as his case continues.

    Such guardian appointments usually are reserved for children in juvenile court or senior citizens in estate cases.

    But Jeremy Jorgenson, Garcia’s local attorney, said Garcia’s apparent wavering leads him to the “conclusion that defendant is currently suffering from a diminished capacity.”

    Jorgenson said the only other reason Garcia changed his mind is that he’s anxious to go to trial. Jorgenson wrote that it’s unfair for the court to force a defendant to essentially choose between his constitutional right to a speedy trial and his right to counsel of choice.

    Jorgenson said he has “advised Dr. Garcia, ad nauseam, that only a fool demands to be taken to the gallows promptly.”

    The court also rejected the request for a guardian on Wednesday. Chief Justice Michael Heavican wrote that the conclusion that Garcia has a “diminished capacity” seems to be based on nothing more than his unwillingness to take his attorneys’ advice.

    Garcia is charged in the March 2008 slayings of Thomas Hunter, 11, and Shirlee Sherman, 57, and the May 2013 deaths of Dr. Roger Brumback and his wife, Mary.

    Prosecutors allege that Garcia killed the four as revenge for his 2001 firing from Creighton University Medical Center — a termination that dogged his short-lived medical career.

    http://www.omaha.com/news/crime/nebr....html?mode=jqm

  10. #10
    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Newport, United Kingdom
    Posts
    2,454
    Anthony Garcia's quadruple-murder trial set for September 26, 2016

    A judge has set quadruple-murder defendant Anthony Garcia's trial start date for Sept. 26.

    Garcia has had five different trial dates since his July 2013 arrest in connection with the slayings of 11-year-old Thomas Hunter, Shirlee Sherman, Dr. Roger Brumback and his wife Mary.

    Authorities allege Garcia killed the four as revenge for Dr. Brumback and Dr. William Hunter firing Garcia from Creighton University Medical Center in 2001.

    The trial was reset from April after Garcia's then-lead attorney, Alison Motta, claimed that a DNA test exonerated Garcia and linked another man to Sherman's killing. A DNA expert testified that the sample was so mixed that it couldn't conclusively link anyone, let alone the man Motta implicated.

    After Alison Motta repeated those comments to several media outlets, Judge Gary Randall removed her from the case.

    The case has since been delayed while Garcia's attorneys attempted to appeal Alison Motta's removal.

    Garcia himself wrote the Nebraska Supreme Court, asking the judges to halt all appeals and saying he no longer wanted Alison Motta representing him.

    The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and sent the case back to Randall for trial. Randall set a pretrial hearing for July 12.

    http://www.omaha.com/news/crime/anth...6e378df07.html

Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •