Sigfredo Garcia Spared Death Penalty
October 15th, 2019 by Mike Vasilinda
A jury recommended and a judge in the state capital has imposed a life sentence on Sigfredo Garcia, the man convicted of killing FSU law professor Dan Markel in a murder for hire plot.
Garcia’s lawyer, Saam Zangeneh said his defense was hampered because Garcia would not take the stand to implicate the mother of his two children, who was tried with him.
“Her Lawyer said it was Sigfredo to Charlie. We could have easily said Katie to Charlie and Sigfredo had nothing to do with this, and Luis. We could have made that argument. I think it would have been a stronger argument for us to make, but we were instructed not to make that argument,” said Zangeneh.
And after the sentencing, Ruth Markel, the mother of the slain law professor broke her silence to reporters.
“We respect the process. There’s a lot more work to be done, and we are looking forward and hoping it will be done soon. We want to thank all of the law enforcement, the state attorneys office,” said Markel.
The case against the mother of Garcia’s children, Katherine Magbanua, ended in a mistrial.
A new trial date could be set later this month.
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