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Suspect in 1991 Attleboro murder caught in Guatemala
Mario Garcia was found living under an alias and working on a shrimp farm.
A 30-year search for an Attleboro murder suspect ended Wednesday when authorities arrested Mario Garcia in Guatemala.
Garcia, 50, of Guatemala, is accused of stabbing Ismael Recinos-Garcia on Nov. 16, 1991 during a fight at the intersection of Dean and Bank Streets, according to a news release from State Police.
Garcia was 19 when the killing happened and is not related to the victim, police said. In 2021, Garcia was placed on the Massachusetts State Police Most Wanted list.
After a decades-long investigation, authorities found Garcia living under an alias and running a shrimp farm in Iztapa, Guatemala.
“We don’t forget, we are persistent, and we never cease in our efforts to secure justice for victims,” State Police Col. Christopher Mason said in the release.
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State Police said that after the stabbing in 1991, police quickly identified Garcia as a suspect and obtained an arrest warrant, but Garcia fled the country and managed to evade law enforcement.
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In 2014, State Police said, they obtained information that suggested Garcia was hiding in a remote area of Guatemala. Then, earlier this year, the officer assigned to the case, Detective Lt. Curtis Cinelli, got a tip that he might be working on a shrimp farm in Iztapa.
State Police identified the shrimp farm in question and forwarded the information to the U.S. Marshals Service, police said, which worked with Guatemalan police to investigate the farm and arrest Garcia.
“We are glad that the victim, Ismael Recinos-Garcia, will finally have justice be brought forth for this senseless murder,” Attleboro Police Chief Kyle Heagney said in the release. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones.”
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Law enforcement in both the U.S. and Guatemala are in the process of securing Garcia’s extradition so he can be prosecuted in Bristol County for Recinos-Garcia’s murder.
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