Murder Most Foul – Issue 111 – January 2019

that whoever did this was looking for

this geographic spot. ‘Someone knows

anatomy’ is what it told us.”

Roger Brumback, a

specialist in Alzheimer’s,

had written 14 books

and started two medical

journals. As a result

of some research, he

had a species of owl

monkey named after

him. He once credited

his success to Mary,

“whose unselfish

devotion and support

has sustained me

throughout my career.”

The couple had been

looking forward to the

start of their retirement

and were in the process

of moving to West

Virginia.

Alert detectives

noted the similarities

between the Hunter and

Brumback murders. And

records showed

that both doctors

had tangled with

Anthony Garcia.

It didn’t take

long to discover

that Garcia

had recently

purchased a

9mm pistol. His

phone records

put him in the

area at the time

of the attack

and his charge

card record

showed he

stopped off for

a meal of chicken

wings in a diner

shortly after the

double-murder.

“Why did he

make a return

journey of a

thousand miles to spend four hours

in Omaha?” the prosecution later

asked. “It wasn’t for the chicken

wings.”

O

n July 15th, 2013, Anthony

Garcia was taken into custody

by the Illinois State Police in

Jonesboro. He was charged with

before a Gage County court in

October 2016 for a 17-day trial

that was characterised by insults

and accusations volleyed between

the prosecution and defence.

Each called the other “a jackass”

until Judge Gary Randall told

them to cool it.

Garcia, though, appeared

unaware of any of this. That was

because he had promptly fallen

asleep at the start of the trial and

remained that way for most of the

proceedings. Unless, of course, he

was faking it...

Douglas

County

Attorney

Don Kleine

offered

volumes of

evidence

that included

items found

in Garcia’s

home – the

reference

letter, bizarre

instructions

to himself

• “wear
  Band-Aids
  over ends of
  fingers, shoes

with common soles, escape to Canada or

Gulf of Mexico, sell car, steal an identity”

and phone, laptop and charge-card

records. It formed a persuasive narrative

of vengeance.

Garcia had searched a Shakespeare

quote on the internet: “If you wrong us,

shall we not revenge?” (The Merchant of

Venice, Act III, Scene I).

A key witness was eye-catching former

exotic dancer Cecilia Hoffman, 26. She

said Garcia had pressured her for a date

at the strip club where she worked, and

where he had been a regular visitor. She

had replied that she only dated “bad

boys.”

“Well, actually, I’ve killed people

before,’” Garcia allegedly said to her.

“I said, ‘Oh, please, you’ve never killed

anybody.’ He said he had.

“I said, ‘All right, tell me about it. He

goes, ‘Well, it was an old woman and a

young boy. They deserved it. Well, no,

perhaps they didn’t deserve it. I feel bad

about it.’”

Sam Motta, Garcia’s attorney, said

Cecilia was making it up. “‘I killed a

four counts of murder and transported

to Omaha. Three years of legal wrangling

followed. During that time, he refused to

engage with psychiatrists

or jailers and once

accused five jailors of

gang-raping him. It was

all nonsense.

Garcia was brought

OR SLEEPS THROUGH

HIS OWN DEATH SENTENCE

Left, killer-

of-four Anthony

Garcia slumps in

his chair duriing

his sentencing

hearing in Omaha,

Nebraska. Inset,

Garcia at his 1999

graduation from

Utah Medical

School

Above,

11-year-old

victim

Thomas

Hunter. Right,

victim Shirlee

Sherman

Murdered couple Roger

Brumback and his

wife Mary. Both were

stabbed in the neck