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The opinions expressed in the following episode

0:32

do not necessarily reflect those of the

0:34

Minds of

0:56

Madness podcast. Listener discretion is

0:58

advised. The

1:31

classic 1942 film Casablanca is

1:34

often called the most quotable

1:36

movie of all time. And

1:39

it's easy to see why. Here's

1:41

looking at you kid. We'll

1:43

always have Paris. This

1:45

looks like the beginning of a beautiful

1:47

friendship. Humphrey Bogart

1:49

delivers every line with his

1:51

signature staccato perfection. But

1:54

there's one particular line from the movie

1:56

that's always stuck with me. One

1:59

that never really gets the credit it deserves.

2:02

Fogart's character, Rick, is approached by

2:04

a shady black market businessman and

2:06

seeing that Rick is giving him

2:09

the cold shoulder, the man asks,

2:11

You despise me, don't you? To

2:14

which Rick responds, If I gave you

2:16

any thought, I suppose I would. It's

2:19

a devastating response, because to him,

2:22

the man wasn't even worth thinking

2:24

about at all. Over

2:27

the early 2000s, there was

2:29

a particular man who believed he'd

2:32

been seriously wronged, treated

2:34

unfairly and unjustly by a certain

2:36

group of people. Day

2:39

after day, these perceived offenses continued

2:41

eating away at him, and he

2:43

constantly blamed others for everything wrong

2:46

in his life which had fallen

2:48

into utter shambles. Ultimately,

2:51

consumed by his rage, he

2:53

decided to take revenge against

2:55

anyone he believed had done

2:57

him wrong, and it

2:59

wasn't a short list. But

3:02

by 2008, not a

3:04

single one of his intended targets was

3:06

even thinking about him, some

3:08

could even remember him. It

3:11

had been so long ago, and he'd

3:13

been so inconsequential, a blip

3:16

on the radar. And

3:18

comfort Bogart, they didn't really think

3:20

about him at all. Join

3:22

me now as we examine

3:24

the shocking story of a

3:27

bonafide serial killer in Omaha,

3:29

Nebraska. You'll learn

3:31

how one man's obsession with

3:33

perceived injustices and a burning

3:35

desire for revenge led him

3:37

down a dark and twisted

3:39

path, culminating in a series

3:41

of gruesome crimes that would

3:43

haunt the city of Omaha

3:45

for years to come. accidents,

4:01

heart attacks, severe burdens and

4:03

other injuries, most of us associate with

4:05

the ER. But something

4:08

many people might not realize, emergency

4:10

rooms are often where people with

4:13

mental health emergencies are treated as

4:15

well. Conditions like

4:17

severe depression, anxiety,

4:19

bipolar disorder or

4:22

schizophrenia. ER professionals

4:24

really do see it all, and

4:27

sometimes it can be downright

4:29

bizarre. Like what

4:31

doctors in Terre Haute Indiana experienced one

4:33

wintery day in January 2013, a man

4:36

had just

4:39

brought himself into the ER and staff

4:41

could tell right away he was

4:43

in pretty bad shape. He

4:45

wasn't bleeding or injured, but was stumbling

4:48

drunk and at the cusp of a

4:50

mental breakdown. His blood

4:52

alcohol level was three times the

4:54

legal limit and he reported himself

4:57

as suicidal, having just been

4:59

fired from his job three days earlier

5:01

for showing up drunk. Hospital

5:04

staff evaluated and treated the man

5:07

before eventually discharging him, but

5:09

just five hours later he was

5:11

back again and even more intoxicated

5:14

than before. So

5:16

doctors started the process all over

5:18

again, poking him up to an

5:20

IV and preparing a mental health

5:22

assessment. But suddenly the

5:24

man ripped out his own IV

5:26

and stumbled at the doors, discharging

5:29

himself back into the world. Just

5:32

one hour later he'd wind up

5:34

in the ER of another local

5:36

hospital. Needless to say

5:38

it was a terrible day for

5:40

the man who was clearly battling

5:42

some demons. Within

5:45

three months he'd be arrested

5:47

for drunk driving his Ferrari

5:49

outside Chicago. Within

5:51

seven months he'd be arrested

5:53

for much, much worse.

5:56

But For the hospital doctors,

5:58

cases like his... just nominate

6:01

nice work. Or

6:03

hospitals. points were still for

6:05

to expect the unexpected and

6:07

after a while we've seen

6:09

it all. One.

6:14

Doctor would really seen it all.

6:16

was sixty five year old, right?

6:18

You're from back as Omaha, Nebraska.

6:20

the long serving chair of the

6:22

department of Pathology at Creighton University

6:24

School of Medicine. When. It

6:27

seemed a medicine doctor Brumback had

6:29

been nothing short of a prodigy

6:31

beginning med school or pass but

6:34

night By far the understood as

6:36

class. From. Their his

6:38

career had taken him all

6:40

around the United States, becoming

6:42

a recognized expert in neurology

6:45

and pathology. For. More

6:47

than forty years Roger dedicated

6:49

himself to his craft or

6:51

three nineteen bucks, publishing over

6:54

one hundred articles, and even

6:56

sounding to medical journals over

6:58

the song. In.

7:00

Medical circles. Rodgers tireless work ethic

7:02

was the stuff of legends, but

7:05

he was also known for been

7:07

a pleasure to work with vendor

7:09

work for. In two

7:12

thousand and one, Roger took his

7:14

position as the pathology department chair

7:16

at Creighton. but by two thousand

7:18

and Thirteen finally decided it was

7:21

time for him to retire. So.

7:24

He and his wife Mary announced they

7:26

believe in Omaha to move to West

7:28

Virginia to be closer to family. Sixty.

7:33

Five year old Mary Brumback had married

7:35

Roger when he was stolen med school

7:38

when they were both around twenty one

7:40

years old. Mary graduated university as a

7:42

pharmacist, but eventually went on to become

7:44

a lawyer. And threat

7:46

Rodgers prolific career, Mary was always

7:49

right beside him, helping him right

7:51

edit and publish. Together,

7:53

they were truly an example of

7:55

what a couple can accomplish when

7:57

their goals, values, and interests are

7:59

aligned. But nothing that accomplish

8:01

together made them more proud and their

8:04

three children Terrell Owens an artery who

8:06

are now grown up in at families

8:08

of their own. Sending.

8:11

May Twelfth. Two Thousand and Thirteen

8:13

was Mother's Day Roger and married

8:15

Spencer Day preparing for their upcoming

8:17

movie, packing a few things away

8:19

and putting some fresh coat of

8:21

paint on the was. They.

8:23

Can Move are scheduled to arrive that

8:25

we'd to take away large items like

8:27

the piano. but all in all the

8:29

day was mostly relaxing. They

8:32

spent a few hours feast of

8:34

children and green cards which married

8:36

of very best on are special

8:38

day. Rodgers. Final Lecture:

8:40

a Cretin Medical was scheduled just

8:42

two days later on May fourteenth.

8:45

The when it came time for

8:47

the lecture, Roger from Back was

8:49

nowhere to be found, leaving his

8:51

colleagues extremely confused. Me

8:54

well that's the from back home and

8:56

west Omaha to move into met a

8:58

right to take away the family piano.

9:01

Walking. Up to the door, one

9:03

of the movers ring the doorbell

9:05

repeatedly, but received no answer. Eventually

9:08

he opened the unlocked door to

9:10

see if anyone was house. But.

9:13

As he swung open he noticed

9:15

that in a clip from a

9:17

gun was lying on the for.

9:20

Immediately knew something was

9:22

terribly wrong. Past.

9:32

Twelve months or so. funny lines

9:34

surely stream one on, for he

9:36

was surely stream. My

9:40

driveway. Yeah

9:43

no for an elderly. Off or

9:45

was partially oh yes or

9:47

no response. my players close

9:50

the door. Actually

9:53

selling for I am. not

9:56

knowing what she my find and

9:58

omaha a police officer arrived performed

10:00

the welfare check at the Brumbach home. But

10:03

as soon as she opened the front

10:05

door, the smell of death was unmistakable.

10:08

There, lying lifeless just inside

10:11

the front door, was Roger

10:13

Brumbach. Not far away

10:15

in the living room was the body of

10:17

his wife, Mary.

10:19

They'd been deceased since Mother's Day,

10:21

about 48 hours earlier. I'm

10:25

going to need a squadron. I got two parties down inside. One

10:29

white male, maybe 50-60, and a female

10:31

party. 79-70. Command 70. Command

10:36

70, I'm clear. Yeah,

10:38

I'm going to need you here, please. One

10:44

of the detectives responding to the

10:46

crime scene was Omaha police homicide

10:48

veteran, Derek Moyes. Once

10:51

inside the home, Detective Moyes began

10:53

observing the bloody thing around him.

10:55

He saw the ammunition

10:57

clip lying on the floor, the one

11:00

the piano mover had noticed originally. He

11:03

also noticed an empty shell casing, as

11:05

well as a bullet hole in the

11:07

door itself. Scattered around

11:09

the floor, he found several more pieces

11:11

from the same handgun, as if the

11:13

gun had been smashed or broken. But

11:17

gunshots alone didn't explain the excessive

11:19

amount of blood covering the crime

11:22

scene. It was on

11:24

the walls, the floor, and the furniture

11:26

all around the victims. Upon

11:29

examining the bodies, it became

11:31

clear that both victims had been

11:33

violently and repeatedly stabbed in their

11:36

necks. It also appeared

11:38

that two separate kitchen knives had been

11:40

used as the murder weapons, as a

11:42

different knife was discovered near each of

11:44

the victims. In

11:47

addition to the fatal stabbing, Roger had

11:50

been shot three times, but no both

11:52

had been used on Mary. Instead,

11:55

it became clear that she had been struck

11:57

in the shit with an object, which was

11:59

a might explain the broken pistol

12:01

parts discovered on the floor. Further

12:04

investigation ruled that robbery is a possible

12:07

motive, as nothing appeared to have been

12:09

stolen, even though the Brumbacks lived in

12:11

a nice house in an affluent neighborhood

12:14

with many valuable items in plain sight.

12:17

The sheer brutality of it all

12:19

indicated that the killer's motive had

12:21

most likely been personal. As

12:26

Detective Moy searched the house, looking for

12:29

more clues, he went into the kitchen

12:31

and saw an open drawer with knives

12:33

inside of it. Noticing

12:36

the style of knives in the

12:38

drawer, he realized the Brumbacks had

12:40

been murdered with knives from their

12:42

own kitchen. The detective's

12:44

heart almost stopped. It

12:47

suddenly hit him. He'd seen

12:49

this all before. Two

12:51

victims in a nice neighborhood

12:53

stabbed precisely in their jugular

12:55

veins, with knives taken

12:57

from their own kitchens. He

13:00

remembered those exact details from a

13:02

case he'd worked on five years

13:04

earlier in the Omaha suburb of

13:06

Dundee, a brutal double

13:08

homicide that had never been solved,

13:11

and it was one that continued to haunt

13:13

him. Was it possible

13:15

the same killer had struck again?

13:18

Just a few minutes later, while

13:20

still at the Brumbacks house, Detective

13:22

Moy's and his team were informed

13:24

about Roger's position at the pathology

13:26

department at Creighton. With

13:28

this information, they knew it had to

13:31

be more than just a mere coincidence,

13:34

because the house that had been attacked

13:36

five years earlier in Dundee had also

13:38

been the home of a Creighton doctor

13:41

of pathology. It was

13:43

deja vu all over again, like

13:45

some twisted time capsule, giving the

13:47

detective a second chance to catch

13:49

what now appeared to be a

13:52

serial killer on the loose in Omaha. And

13:55

It didn't take long for the media to make

13:58

that connection either. Having

14:08

have means you're constantly playing detective, always

14:10

coming home to another mystery to solve

14:12

Wolf Ruff. Most recently it was trying

14:14

to figure out which of or three

14:16

dogs had figured out how to open

14:19

the cupboard to pull the garbage out

14:21

in scattered all over the floor. Will

14:23

one day it appeared the culprit had

14:25

thrown caution to the wind and decided

14:27

to make another breeze attempt. this time.

14:29

Well I was at home and I

14:31

was shocked by who it was. It.

14:33

Was me fall the smallest of the

14:35

three and apparently the smartest me all

14:38

was the mastermind. He discovered that by

14:40

continuously slapping the cover door with his

14:42

paw you would eventually bounce open. Now,

14:44

while it was a hilarious mystery to

14:46

solve at the time he could have

14:49

ended badly. he could have ended with

14:51

an unexpected and costly that those he

14:53

swallows something from the garbage that he

14:55

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14:57

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PTZ Insurance Agency Limited. The ASPCA

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is not an insurer and is

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not engaged in the business of

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insurance. Now

16:18

still no answers for the father or

16:20

for the family of Dr. Roger Broomback

16:22

and his wife Mary. A piano mover

16:25

discovered the couple dead inside their home

16:27

near 114th and Shirley Tuesday morning. Police

16:29

are being tight-lipped but they did say

16:31

today their cold case unit is investigating

16:33

this homicide similarities to another double murder

16:35

in 2008. Back on March 13th 2008

16:38

detected Moyes

16:43

have been called to the Dundee

16:45

Nebraska home of Creighton pathologist Dr.

16:47

William Hunter. His wife

16:49

Claire Hunter was also a doctor at Creighton

16:51

but was away in a white that week

16:53

to attend a conference. That

16:56

evening Dr. Hunter arrived home from

16:58

work just before 6 p.m. He

17:01

was surprised to see his house cleaner 57

17:04

year old Shirley Sherman's vehicle still parked

17:06

in the driveway. It wasn't

17:08

like her to be still working so late. Not

17:12

long after walking through a store

17:14

the doctor discovered Shirley's lifeless body

17:17

lying on the floor in his hallway.

17:19

A knife taken from his own kitchen

17:21

was still lodged in her neck. As

17:24

a medical expert he only needed

17:26

one look to determine she was

17:28

deceased. 15 feet

17:30

away on the floor in the dining room Lee's

17:33

11 year old son Thomas murdered

17:36

in the same manner as Shirley.

17:42

The detectives assigned to the

17:44

case including detective Moyes worked

17:47

tirelessly to track down the killer

17:49

but whoever it was had been very

17:51

careful not to leave any traces behind

17:54

in the house. No DNA

17:56

no fingerprints no

17:58

nothing. And

18:00

all were brutal, brutal, horrific

18:03

homicides, you know,

18:05

using knives and the

18:07

knives left in the

18:10

2008 victims' necks, like

18:12

through and through. It was just, it was imp...

18:14

Like, I didn't even know if I'd be

18:16

able to look at the autopsy photos because

18:18

it's like it was that type

18:21

of brutality. That was

18:23

Bob Motta, a criminal defense

18:25

attorney turned podcaster. He

18:27

hosts the show Defense Diaries and just happens

18:29

to be a friend of mine. So

18:32

before I go to record every episode, I

18:34

read the script a few times and then

18:36

I go to YouTube to see if there's

18:38

any videos or documentaries I can watch to

18:41

make sure I get the names pronounced correctly.

18:44

And I'm scrolling through the thumbnails on YouTube

18:46

and I see a very familiar face and

18:48

I'm thinking, hey, I know that guy. And

18:51

as it turned out, Bob was the defense

18:53

lawyer for the person who would eventually be

18:55

put on trial for these murders. So

18:58

I knew I had to reach out to him. When

19:01

you look at the violence that occurred

19:03

at both of these crime scenes and

19:05

the fact that knives were used for

19:07

there not to be any semblance

19:09

of any kind of forensic

19:12

DNA, fingerprints,

19:14

anything, it's unsettling.

19:20

Inside the house, however, was a different

19:22

story as several witnesses came forward with

19:24

reports of seeing a mysterious man in

19:27

the area on the day of the

19:29

murder. He seemed a

19:31

little lost while driving around the

19:33

neighborhood in his Silver Honda CRV.

19:37

Witnesses described the man who emerged

19:39

from the vehicle as somewhat heavysat

19:41

with all of colored skin, wearing

19:43

business attire. One

19:46

neighbor recalled seeing him stumble as

19:48

if he'd been drinking as

19:50

he walked along the sidewalk right up to

19:52

the hunters home. One

19:54

last piece of valuable information came

19:56

from a witness who noticed the

19:58

Honda's license plate. She

20:01

hadn't taken down the number, but

20:03

remembered it was definitely from out

20:05

of state, and described the license

20:07

plate image as a pastel colored

20:09

sunset. With

20:14

very little to go on, detectives

20:16

began exploring a number of theories,

20:19

all of them centered around possible

20:21

motives. One theory

20:23

revolved around 11-year-old Thomas. Detectives

20:26

learned that Thomas frequently used

20:29

an online chat room specifically

20:31

for pre-teens called Y-ville. When

20:34

detectives dove a little bit deeper

20:36

into Thomas' Y-ville interactions, they

20:38

discovered he often pretended to be

20:41

an older teenager. They

20:43

also learned that more than a

20:45

few of the people Thomas had

20:47

been chatting with were doing the

20:49

opposite and pretending to be much

20:51

younger than they actually were. It

20:55

was really sketchy. Detectives

20:57

believed it was possible Thomas had

20:59

become the victim of an online

21:01

predator. Another

21:03

theory for the murders revolved around

21:05

the other victim, the house cleaner

21:08

Shirley Sherman. The

21:10

57-year-old had been a lifelong resident of

21:12

Omaha and had been a local house

21:14

cleaner for more than 30 years, known

21:17

for great work, reliability,

21:19

and pleasant personality. When

21:22

detectives looked closer at Shirley, they

21:24

learned there had been some conflict

21:26

in her personal life regarding her

21:29

adult daughter's boyfriend. The

21:31

man her daughter had been seeing was actually

21:33

a married man and according

21:35

to her daughter, he was

21:37

excessively violent, even breaking her

21:39

jaw at one point. It

21:42

was revealed that Shirley had been attempting

21:44

to convince her daughter to leave the

21:46

man and on more than one occasion

21:49

had confronted the boyfriend directly. After

21:52

a murder, Shirley's family suggested to

21:54

detectives they might want to look

21:56

into the abusive boyfriend, ultimately.

22:00

The man had a solid

22:02

alibi, and before long, police

22:04

crossed off their potential suspect

22:06

list entirely. A

22:08

third major theory detectives had pursued

22:11

was the possibility that Shirley and

22:13

Thomas hadn't been the intended victims.

22:16

What if the killer had been looking for

22:18

Dr. William or Dr. Claire Hunter? Perhaps

22:22

it was a former patient or colleague

22:24

holding a grudge, but when

22:26

detectives asked Dr. Hunter if he knew

22:28

anyone who'd want to harm him, he

22:30

couldn't think of a single person. Although

22:53

Dr. Hunter couldn't imagine anyone associated

22:56

with Creighton wishing to do him

22:58

harm, it was still elite detectives

23:00

pursued. The number of

23:03

patients who might hold a grudge

23:05

against a doctor was potentially endless.

23:08

The only seemingly solid lead they

23:10

found, with a former Russian doctor

23:12

who they discovered had some serious

23:15

beef with the pathology department, even

23:17

threatening to sue the university. However,

23:20

after some rather extensive investigation

23:23

into that suspect, the lead

23:25

never panned out. Because

23:31

the double homicide in Dundee had

23:33

become such a high profile case,

23:35

the FBI offered to create a

23:37

psychological profile of the killer. The

23:40

FBI's best guess was that Thomas and Shirley

23:43

had been the victim of a serial killer.

23:46

The precise knife wounds on their

23:48

necks suggested an experienced killer who

23:50

knew exactly where to strike. But

23:53

as for who the killer might be,

23:55

they believed it was possibly some sort

23:58

of transient drifter. They

24:00

also believed it might be impossible

24:02

to find the murderer until they

24:04

struck again. Eventually, Thomas

24:06

and Shirley's murders became an

24:09

official cold case with the

24:11

Omaha Police Department. But

24:13

all that changed in 2013

24:15

when Roger and Mary Brumbach

24:17

were found murdered five years

24:20

later under incredibly similar circumstances.

24:23

It appeared that the FBI may

24:25

have been right all along, that

24:27

this was the work of a

24:29

serial killer targeting victims with connections

24:32

to the Creighton Pathology Department. In

24:35

the days following the Brumbach murders,

24:37

the connection with Creighton became even

24:39

more clear when another Creighton pathologist

24:42

named Dr. Chandra Butra came forward

24:44

with a chilling story. On

24:47

Mother's Day, she was out to

24:49

a brunch with her husband and her

24:51

ADP alarm went off. So they got

24:53

a notification that their alarm at the

24:55

house had triggered. She

24:58

didn't even call the cops at that point. They

25:00

got back home. They thought it was this back

25:02

door that had blown open on several occasions in

25:04

the past. And they didn't really think anything

25:06

of it until sometime later after

25:08

the Brumbachs are killed and people

25:11

in the department are like, hey,

25:13

did you ever call the police

25:15

about this thing

25:17

that happened in your house with your basement

25:19

door being opened? She's like, no.

25:21

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25:29

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25:45

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25:47

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madness. Dr.

27:02

Butra became convinced that someone had tried

27:04

to break into her home on the

27:07

same day the Brumbacks had been murdered.

27:10

Under the circumstances, it

27:12

was easy to imagine that Dr.

27:14

Butra had narrowly avoided becoming a

27:16

victim herself. Suddenly,

27:18

the disgruntled colleague theory seemed

27:20

like the best place for

27:22

police to begin their new

27:24

investigation. The only

27:27

thing that didn't seem to fit

27:29

was the FBI's characterization of a

27:31

killer as being some sort of

27:33

drifter. It's just

27:35

not how any doctor would imagine

27:37

describing a former colleague. A

27:40

week after the Brumback murders, the Omaha

27:42

chief of police announced the formation of

27:45

a task force to the press. Today

27:48

is the first day I've elected

27:50

to make public comments on behalf of the Omaha

27:52

Police Department on the

27:54

Brumback investigation. Since

27:57

May 14th, Omaha community

28:01

has understandably been

28:03

on edge in mourning and

28:06

a whole host of questions have

28:08

opened up, namely who

28:11

committed the homicides of Dr. and Mrs. Brumbach

28:14

and are the homicides in any way related

28:17

to the 2008 homicides of Shirley

28:19

Sherman and Thomas Hunter in

28:22

the Dundee section of our city. To

28:25

make the strongest push possible towards

28:28

solving these homicides and

28:30

to determine if the 2008

28:32

homicides are

28:34

related to our recent homicides, I've

28:37

ordered the formation of a task force. This

28:40

specialized task force has

28:42

been and will be operating

28:44

seven days a week with the sole purpose

28:47

of solving the four homicides that I have mentioned.

28:50

I will say this, I would not want this

28:53

task force coming after me if I was the

28:55

killer of killers. With

29:00

the new task force dedicating enormous

29:02

amounts of resources and efforts, detectives

29:04

pulled all the personal records from

29:06

the Creighton Pathology Department going all

29:09

the way back to 2000 when

29:11

Dr. Brumbach and Hunter had first

29:13

begun working there. Hundreds

29:15

and hundreds of dossiers were created on

29:18

every single person who'd ever worked in the

29:21

department. Yes, it was

29:23

indeed a needle in a haystack,

29:25

but this time detectives believed they

29:27

were at least looking in the

29:29

right haystack. And it

29:31

just so happened that the dossier

29:34

of a former employee named Anthony

29:36

Garcia landed on Detective Moist's desk.

29:39

Born in California in

29:41

1973, Anthony Garcia had

29:43

graduated from the University of Utah School

29:46

of Medicine in 1999. After

29:50

med school, Anthony began his residency

29:52

at a hospital in Albany, New

29:54

York. Residencies typically take

29:56

around four years to complete, but

29:59

Anthony only lasted eight months

30:01

in Albany before resigning after a

30:03

pattern of poor job performance and

30:05

a terrible attitude had emerged. After

30:09

leaving Albany, Anthony applied for

30:11

a pathology residency at Creighton. However,

30:14

he never informed them about his

30:16

previous job in Albany. If

30:19

they'd known, he never would have

30:21

been accepted. Coincidentally, when

30:23

Anthony arrived in Omaha in

30:25

2000, the director

30:27

of the Pathology Residency Program was

30:30

Dr. William Hunter. The

30:32

chair of the entire department was

30:35

Roger Brumbach. Anthony's

30:37

time at Creighton didn't go much better

30:39

than his previous residency at Albany. He

30:42

was rude, made unforgivable mistakes,

30:45

lacked basic required knowledge, and

30:47

had a terrible attitude towards

30:49

his patients and superiors. And

30:53

the doctor who evaluated him

30:55

most harshly was Dr. Chandra

30:57

Butra, who regularly handed in

31:00

official evaluations, noting Anthony's poor

31:02

performance. Eventually, Anthony

31:04

was fired before he'd even completed

31:07

his first year at Creighton. As

31:10

Detective Moyes looked through Anthony's

31:12

personnel file, he quickly noticed

31:14

that both Dr. Hunter and

31:16

Dr. Brumbach had signed Anthony's

31:18

official termination letter. By

31:25

some miracle, Anthony was then

31:27

granted yet another residency at

31:29

a hospital in Chicago. But

31:32

again, things didn't go much better.

31:35

Over the next two years, Anthony

31:37

slipped into severe mental

31:39

decline, becoming severely depressed,

31:42

suffering terrible migraines, and

31:44

racking up tens of thousands of dollars

31:46

in his own medical debt to treat

31:48

it. He also

31:50

began abusing alcohol and writing

31:52

his own prescriptions. With

31:55

his condition eventually getting so

31:57

bad, he underwent electroshock therapy

31:59

in 2003, and he never

32:02

finished his residency. Anthony

32:04

eventually moved back home with

32:06

his parents in California, declared

32:09

bankruptcy, and found new work

32:11

repairing cars. For a

32:13

while, Anthony completely forgot about

32:15

trying to become a doctor, and

32:18

all the doctors in Omaha had

32:20

completely forgotten about him. It

32:24

wasn't until 2007 when Anthony decided

32:26

to try his hand in the

32:28

medical field once more. This

32:31

time, he was accepted to a

32:33

residency at Louisiana State University, but

32:35

within a few short months, they

32:38

discovered he'd lied on his application.

32:40

On the application,

32:42

Anthony claimed he'd successfully completed

32:44

a year at Creighton, but

32:46

when the medical board double-checked

32:48

his qualifications, Creighton informed them

32:50

of the truth. He

32:52

hadn't. Because of this, on

32:55

February 28, 2008,

32:58

Anthony was officially denied his license to

33:00

practice medicine in Louisiana. Sixteen

33:04

days later, Thomas Hunter and Shirley

33:06

Sherman were murdered at the Dundee

33:08

home of one of the doctors

33:10

who fired him all those years

33:12

ago. As

33:16

Detective Moyes learned more and more

33:19

about Anthony Garcia, the more he

33:21

became convinced he was now looking

33:23

at their prime suspect. Not

33:25

only did Anthony possess a motive

33:27

for the killings, the timing of

33:29

the Dundee murders seemed like a

33:31

giant smoking gun. Looking

33:34

even deeper into Anthony, Moyes was able

33:36

to track down the vehicle Anthony had

33:38

been using in 2008, and

33:40

when he saw the results, he

33:43

couldn't believe his eyes. The

33:46

vehicle registered to Anthony had been

33:48

a Silver Honda CRV, the

33:50

exact same make, model and color

33:53

reported by eyewitnesses at the crime

33:55

scene. The car

33:57

also had out-of-state Louisiana license

33:59

plates. which featured an image

34:01

of a pastel-colored sunset. Again,

34:04

another perfect match. Anthony

34:07

also matched the physical characteristics

34:09

witnesses had described, a rotund

34:12

man with all of colored

34:14

skin. Everything was

34:16

starting to click into place. In

34:19

the five years after the Dundee murders, the

34:22

life and medical career of Anthony

34:24

Garcia continued to decline. He

34:27

moved back to Illinois, the only state

34:29

he was still legally allowed to practice

34:32

medicine. He found part-time

34:34

gigs with small clinics and at

34:36

one point took a job at

34:38

an Indian estate penitentiary on a

34:40

temporary license. But just

34:43

like before, as soon as the

34:45

Indiana Medical Board found out about

34:47

his real credentials in history, he

34:49

was denied a full license. This

34:52

time in December 2012. Days

34:55

later, Anthony was fired from

34:58

one of his other jobs because he'd

35:00

shown up to work intoxicated. Three

35:02

days after that was the infamous

35:05

day he'd checked himself into a

35:07

local emergency room with a blood

35:09

alcohol level three times the legal

35:11

limit, telling the doctors he had

35:14

suicidal thoughts, only to come

35:16

back hours later even more drunk

35:18

than before. Five

35:20

months later, Roger and Mary Broome

35:23

back were murdered in Omaha. Detective

35:28

Moyes and his team spent six

35:30

weeks investigating Anthony Garcia, learning absolutely

35:33

everything they could about the man

35:35

who was now the primary suspect.

35:38

And everything added up, including the

35:40

fact that both double homicides had

35:43

occurred shortly after Anthony had been

35:45

denied medical licenses. Once in

35:47

2008 and again in 2013. Detectives

35:52

were also able to verify that

35:54

just two months before the Broomeback

35:56

murders, Anthony had purchased the exact

35:59

same thing. model of handgun discovered

36:01

in pieces at the crime scene. But

36:04

the real breakthrough came when detectives

36:06

were able to positively place Anthony

36:08

near the crime scene, something

36:11

authorities weren't able to do with

36:13

their previous suspect. There

36:15

was a guy, a Russian guy, this

36:17

Michael Balenky, who had all

36:20

of the same issues, who was actually

36:22

their suspect for years, but they just

36:24

couldn't place him in Omaha. Everything

36:27

was identical to Garcia, you know, had

36:29

left, was fired, had issues with doctors

36:31

in there, women were afraid to be

36:33

around him in there. You know, it's

36:35

like this whole thing with Balenky was

36:37

identical to Garcia, it was the exact

36:39

same story that they used for Garcia.

36:42

They could have slipped Balenky's name in

36:44

there and it would have been the

36:46

exact same theory of the case. On

36:49

the day of the Brumbach murders in 2013,

36:52

a single incoming phone call had

36:54

been made to Anthony's cell phone. He

36:57

never answered it, but after

36:59

examining cell town records, they were

37:01

able to place him near Omaha

37:03

at the time of the murders,

37:05

despite the fact that his home

37:07

in Terre Haute, Indiana was a

37:09

9-hour drive away. A

37:12

credit card purchase from a wings

37:14

restaurant also placed Anthony in Omaha

37:16

that day, just minutes away from

37:18

the Brumbach house. Hey

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37:52

When you want a pet on sports, played

37:55

on a field or axle course, the

37:57

river is the place. The

38:02

decision to

38:05

arrest Anthony Garcia wasn't made lightly.

38:27

Police didn't want to make an arrest

38:29

before they believed they'd secured enough evidence

38:31

for a conviction. However,

38:33

they were also now firmly convinced

38:36

that Anthony was a serial killer,

38:38

getting revenge on his colleagues he

38:40

believed had wronged him. And

38:43

since the potential list of victims was

38:45

rather long, they believed it was only

38:47

a matter of time before he'd kill

38:49

again. So on July 15, 2013,

38:53

the decision was made to

38:56

have Anthony arrested, but he

38:58

wasn't at home. Instead,

39:00

he was in his car heading

39:02

south to Louisiana. When

39:05

Anthony was pulled over by state

39:07

troopers in southern Illinois, they realized

39:09

the decision to arrest him had

39:11

been made just in time. Just

39:14

in time to prevent another homicide.

39:17

Not only was Anthony driving with a

39:19

blood alcohol level twice the legal limit

39:21

at 6.30 in the morning,

39:24

inside his car they found what

39:27

was essentially a kill kit, a

39:30

handgun with 50 rounds of ammunition,

39:32

as well as a brand new

39:34

crowbar and sledgehammer. Along

39:37

with a set of handwritten directions to

39:39

the hospital he'd been fired from in

39:41

Louisiana, and also taken a

39:43

box of rubber gloves, a stethoscope,

39:46

as well as an official white

39:48

LSU logoed lab coat. Detectives

39:50

believed that Anthony had brought along all

39:52

these items to uses in disguise that

39:55

would let him get close to the

39:57

victims he intended to kill. Outside

40:00

of his kiln kit in disguise Anthony

40:03

had in fact a single piece of luggage

40:05

for his trap When

40:12

he was arrested his family namely

40:14

his brother Fernando had gone online

40:16

and I end up getting

40:18

a call about one in the morning and he

40:20

left me a message saying Hey,

40:23

my brother got picked up in southern, Illinois

40:25

On a DUI and I'm like a DUI

40:27

and I was gonna call him and tell

40:29

him hey, you know I couldn't possibly drive

40:31

down for a DUI. You just need to

40:33

find a local guy down there So

40:36

I do call him he answers all

40:38

he tells me is it sounds

40:40

like a murder case So I wake Allison

40:42

up and I'm like it sounds like we

40:45

might have picked up a murder case in

40:47

southern, Illinois And so her and I jump

40:49

in the vehicle and we take the

40:51

drive So then we find out you

40:53

know in the probable cause affidavit in

40:55

that case was very much like the

40:57

Idaho forecase with with Coburger very detailed.

40:59

So we start reading this story the

41:01

state's narrative this november You know this

41:04

revenge theme that this guy had gone

41:06

to Creighton University and their medical school

41:08

And he was in the residency program

41:10

in 2001 He was

41:12

fired and that he held this grudge and

41:14

that seven years later goes and kills the

41:16

11 year old Thomas hunter

41:18

and then the housekeeper and then

41:20

five years later goes and kills

41:22

Roger and Mary Brumbach This guy

41:24

was like theoretically a serial killer.

41:27

That's what they were alleging. He was So

41:30

immediately I tell Allison like we had

41:32

to call my father As far

41:35

as defense lawyers go very few are

41:37

fortunate to have a father like Robert

41:39

Motta a man with a specific Kind

41:41

of high-profile trial experience Bob would certainly

41:44

need if he decided to take this

41:46

case Now

41:49

my dad was as you know Tyler was John

41:51

Wayne Gacy's lawyer back in 1978 through 80 They

41:55

got a lot of hate. He's like if you

41:57

ever get a like a big murder case you

42:00

know, bring me on and we'll try it

42:02

together, you know, so it was, it was

42:04

frankly, it was me, my wife, Alison, who's

42:06

a pit bull, brilliant attorney, and my father,

42:09

who's also a brilliant attorney. And we tried

42:11

Garcia because at that point we hadn't, we

42:13

hadn't even tried a murder case. We tried

42:15

tons and tons of trials, but for us,

42:17

it was a big leap. In

42:20

terms of being a trial attorney, you're either

42:22

experienced or you're not. What Anthony

42:24

was telling us from the minute that we

42:26

met him is that he didn't do these

42:28

things, that he was innocent of the crimes.

42:30

Despite Anthony's insistence to

42:32

the contrary, however, detectives soon

42:35

began uncovering even more evidence

42:37

against him. After

42:39

being arrested and taken into custody,

42:41

a subsequent search warrant for Anthony's

42:43

home in Indiana revealed the depths

42:46

to which he'd fallen. Most

42:48

of the rooms were bare, his bed

42:50

was an air mattress, empty

42:52

beer cans littered the floor, and

42:55

the only real food inside the

42:57

house was a box of cereal

42:59

he kept inside the refrigerator. Suddenly,

43:02

the FBI's profile of a

43:04

vagabond drifter didn't seem too

43:06

far off. As far

43:08

as doctors go, Anthony Garcia was

43:10

about as close as one could

43:12

get. On his dining

43:15

room table and in his

43:17

kitchen sink, detectives discovered stacks

43:19

of damning paperwork. It

43:21

turned out Anthony had kept a

43:24

record of almost every single perceived

43:26

injustice against him. He

43:28

had copies of his negative performance

43:30

evaluations throughout his career, along with

43:33

his termination letter from Creighton, as

43:36

well as several rejection letters from

43:38

state licensing boards. It

43:40

was clear this was a man

43:43

completely fixated on holding a grudge.

43:46

Police also found numerous

43:48

handwritten pages detailing plans

43:50

to commit identity fraud,

43:52

kidnappings, tortures, and other

43:54

murders. Now that

43:56

police had access to his cell phone,

43:59

examinations of his metadata and

44:01

internet history revealed even more

44:03

sinister plans. Among

44:05

his internet searches, Anthony had

44:08

looked up the personal addresses for

44:10

several of the people he blamed

44:12

for his professional downfall, including a

44:14

doctor in Albany as well as

44:17

one in Chicago. But

44:19

the most surprising revelation from Anthony's

44:21

cell phone data was that Roger

44:23

Brumbach had apparently not been on

44:26

Anthony's intended victim list in 2013.

44:31

Instead the records showed Dr. Chandra

44:33

Bhutra had been the one he'd

44:35

initially traveled to Nebraska to kill.

44:38

In fact, he hadn't looked up Roger's

44:40

home address until he'd failed to break

44:43

into the Bhutra's house that day. It

44:46

was only after his failed attempt, while

44:48

sitting in the parking lot of a

44:50

barbecue wing restaurant that he'd searched for

44:53

Roger's address and easily found it in

44:55

the white pages. And

44:57

although these pieces of evidence would

45:00

be introduced at trial, defense attorney

45:02

Bob Motta seriously challenged the veracity

45:04

of the state's claims. The

45:07

Google searches they claimed had happened, which

45:09

frankly were probably the most damning thing.

45:12

They said that they had found on his

45:14

tablet that he had Googled Bhutra and then

45:17

he had Googled the Brumbachs for their addresses.

45:19

And you know, the problem was that what they

45:22

did is that one of the cops had extracted

45:24

it to his own personal phone, an old phone

45:26

of his. And what they

45:28

kept all the data on was a

45:31

WordPad document. So at trial, which

45:33

if you don't know what WordPad

45:35

is, it's like a Word document

45:38

except it's the basic version of

45:40

it. So at trial what we

45:42

did is we actually brought

45:44

up where they're claiming the information

45:46

about these searches was and we

45:48

typed in not guilty. Strange

46:00

is not responsible and

46:02

what? I can

46:05

use. It

46:08

would take three long years before

46:10

Anthony Garcia was put on trial

46:12

for the four murders and Omaha.

46:14

If convicted, the state would seek

46:16

the death penalty. During. This

46:19

time, however, it became obvious

46:21

that Anthony's mental health was

46:23

in serious decline. Just.

46:26

So I want people. They have a

46:28

clear understanding that Anthony Garcia was kept

46:30

in solitary for three years. Twenty three

46:32

hours a day, got one hour a

46:34

day out of the sell us. He

46:36

lost his mind in there. That

46:38

when I'm saying twenty three hours a day,

46:40

I mean every every bit as that they

46:43

tortured him in there. And I am not

46:45

talking about physically, I'm talking about psychologically. They.

46:47

Wouldn't let him sleep. You notice in

46:49

cases like that in cases where you've

46:52

got a child victims in, it's a

46:54

case it as it is affected a

46:56

community. Trust me when I tell you

46:58

this jail and prison guards don't give

47:00

a shit about the presumption of innocence

47:02

as not something that they care about.

47:04

They viewed him as a child killer

47:06

and and they they acted as such

47:08

an end in like he was telling

47:11

us repeatedly did they were torturing him.

47:13

There is in their psychologically. You.

47:15

Know he he declined the date rape

47:17

don't So we were try to address

47:19

it. we were trying to get him

47:21

out of solitary. He knows a we

47:23

challenge our own clients competency three times

47:25

because within six months he just wasn't

47:28

there like mentally you. he was like

47:30

it, like he couldn't help. In his

47:32

own defense, Which could not assist

47:34

us. We couldn't have any kind a conversation with

47:36

them because all you all you could focus on

47:38

was the fact that they were torturing him in

47:41

there and and we're trying to help them. We

47:43

wanted to get him to Lincoln Regional Mental Hospital

47:45

to get him evaluated in in really just a

47:47

good amount of the jail and so the first

47:50

time that we did it we saw improvement from

47:52

a mentally you know like he did he can.

47:54

He came back a little bit with them once

47:56

they put him back and they found I'm confident.

48:00

By being evaluated and declared mentally

48:02

competent to stand trial, Anthony was

48:04

no longer even speaking to his

48:06

attorneys by the time they got

48:08

to trial. I. Mean Tyler.

48:11

I sat there in a in a

48:13

five week jury trial in our client,

48:15

didn't say one word to any of

48:17

us. To onlookers, it appeared

48:20

as if he wasn't even aware

48:22

for trial going on around them.

48:24

They were wheeling a man and he

48:26

slept through his trial like he had

48:28

his hands like across his chest like a

48:31

vampire wouldn't it's casket and was his

48:33

tail interesting? Off. Now. You can imagine

48:35

without a look like to a jury you know

48:37

it look like this guy doesn't give a shit.

48:39

This guy doesn't care, He's clearly guilty, you know,

48:41

and that's how it appeared to them. And

48:44

we weren't allowed to explain to them why

48:46

he appeared that way In from the jury,

48:48

we couldn't We couldn't tell the jury why

48:50

he was like, does. It

48:52

wasn't until after the trial that

48:54

Bob would discover the real reasons

48:57

for Anthony supplements and demeanor during

48:59

the trial. Somebody. Recognize

49:01

that I was one of Garcia's attorneys

49:03

and they emailed us in. It turned

49:06

out that he was the nurse at

49:08

the jail Douglas County Jail and in

49:10

he told us in an email that

49:12

he was the one that was administering

49:15

shot to on before. I like every

49:17

court hearing and throughout the trial knock

49:19

him out. They were tranquilizing him. Which.

49:22

Is shocking. You. Know

49:24

it really is. I found it to

49:26

be stunning that to to stay with,

49:28

do that to have him appear that

49:30

way. In addition to

49:32

Anthony shocking behavior during trial,

49:34

the state was able to

49:36

put together a very powerful

49:38

circumstantial case against him with

49:40

evidence they collected. In.

49:43

Garcia's case. They had a hell of a

49:45

narrative. You know they really did like their

49:47

their narrative is was super power. They.

49:50

Flush out there narrative and like. The one

49:52

thing that I'm always trying to impress upon

49:54

people, Tyler her is that the say wasn't

49:56

there when the crimes are committed. We weren't

49:59

there when the. They are committed. Law

50:01

enforcement was not there when the crimes are

50:03

committed. The. State has a theory of

50:05

a case. We have a theory of a

50:07

case and ultimately what it boils down to

50:09

it in Both of us are coming to

50:12

our own series based on the same evidence

50:14

the law enforcement collected. And. That's all

50:16

it is. See.

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for hims traditional I would rather. Gloomy.

51:23

End after five weeks of

51:26

testimony to reconsider. the evidence

51:28

against Anthony to be overwhelming.

51:31

And after seven and a half

51:33

hours of deliberation, the jury returned

51:35

as guilty verdict. They are in

51:37

the courtroom watching the bird or

51:39

it was the Omar Chief of

51:41

Police could put together the task

51:43

force in weight of the Brumback

51:45

Murders. Or the

51:47

say other Say one thing. I

51:49

was confident all along that the

51:51

citizens of Douglas County and Omaha

51:54

who comprises sure with sift through

51:56

the evidence with sift through that

51:58

the after September the right. And

52:01

they did and moving forward, you know,

52:03

I like let's remember the victims and

52:06

there really isn't any reason to mention Or

52:08

worry about Anthony Garcia any

52:10

further. Thank you In

52:13

comments given to the Omaha World

52:15

Herald Claire Hunter the mother of

52:17

Thomas was quoted as saying Garcia

52:20

was a guy who my husband didn't

52:22

hire Didn't say a word

52:24

when they fired him and he comes

52:26

back seven years later and kills our

52:28

son That's not a

52:30

normal response not even to anger That's

52:34

not revenge what he did

52:36

to those four people is animal Defense

52:43

lawyer Bob Motta has since stepped away

52:45

from the courtroom and into the sound

52:47

booth where he hosts his own podcast

52:50

Defense diaries the

52:52

first season covers his father's infamous

52:54

John Wayne gacy case and reveals

52:56

hours upon hours of Never heard

52:59

before recordings between his father and

53:01

John Wayne gacy But

53:03

in his second season called tunnel

53:05

vision, it takes a deep dive

53:07

into the case. We've been discussing

53:09

today It

53:11

is a very very deep dark

53:14

story That's probably worth listen

53:16

and and you know, and it's it's one

53:18

of those things were when I started this

53:20

season You know people were like well, how

53:22

are you gonna talk about the case? Well,

53:24

our client never said anything that would trigger

53:26

privilege because all he always maintained his innocence

53:29

I'm not gonna sugarcoat this and make this

53:31

some kind of defense lawyer. Oh look he's

53:33

innocent, you know, I'm on my soapbox He's

53:35

innocent. He's innocent I'm gonna lay out all

53:37

the facts for the first time the same

53:40

way that I was hoping that a jury

53:42

would would look at it and Hope that

53:44

that they'll come to their own conclusions once

53:46

they hear both sides of it So

53:49

my listeners are our jury and I'm like

53:51

I'm putting out all of the state's evidence

53:54

Of course, we asked Bob what he

53:56

felt some of the more compelling pieces

53:58

of evidence were definitely My point

54:01

to Anthony, perhaps having been

54:03

wrongfully convicted. We

54:05

didn't know what day that the Brumbex

54:07

were killed. The state's theory was that

54:09

it had to be Mother's Day. So

54:11

it was always our feeling

54:13

that the Brumbex were not killed between

54:15

three and four in the afternoon on

54:17

Mother's Day because we're talking about a

54:20

bedroom community in Omaha on Mother's Day.

54:22

It was a beautiful day. It was

54:24

like a 71 degree day. It

54:27

was Sunday. You're outside grilling. You're

54:29

cooking. Your mom's over. So

54:32

we start canvassing the neighborhood. And

54:34

remember, there were five gunshots that

54:36

all happened from

54:38

outside the intruder was outside the house

54:41

shooting into the house with a nine

54:43

millimeter. And no one heard it. Not

54:45

one person in that neighborhood heard it.

54:47

And if you've ever heard a nine

54:49

millimeter, it's implausible that no one would

54:51

have heard those gunshots, including the very

54:54

next door neighbor was an Omaha cop

54:56

who was home. And he didn't hear

54:58

any. He didn't hear the gunshots. And we

55:01

found somebody who heard around midnight what he

55:03

called. He said it sounded like

55:05

three to four fireworks, sound like big

55:07

bangs. So our theory was

55:09

that the Brumbex weren't killed at that time. Like

55:12

it was impossible. Like there's no way that no

55:14

one would have heard that nightmare that was going

55:16

on in that house. It

55:18

is completely implausible. But

55:21

Bob just didn't rely on his gut

55:23

instincts and intuition to develop this theory.

55:26

In fact, he believes the Mother

55:28

State time of death can be

55:30

refuted by hurt facts. We

55:33

had hired Werner Spitz, who was the,

55:35

you know, at the time, he's probably

55:37

the most preeminent forensic pathologist on

55:39

the planet. When he looks at

55:41

the autopsy, what the autopsy says

55:43

is that Roger Brumbek was still

55:45

in rigor mortis and they

55:48

don't get Brumbek back to the morgue

55:50

until that night, which we're talking like

55:52

over 50 hours. And

55:54

so once Spitz looks at these, like

55:56

there's no way physiologically, unless he was

55:59

kept in a free for the days

56:01

after he was killed that he would still be

56:03

in rigor mortis. It's scientifically

56:05

impossible. So when I had Werner

56:08

Schitz tell me that, I'm like, I don't

56:10

think Garcia did it. I mean, I'm just

56:12

looking at the science of it. It's

56:14

like we put on a good defense.

56:17

So there could be that element of

56:19

me drinking the Kool-Aid or

56:22

just buying our own defense, but

56:24

it's hard to dispute science. There's

56:28

no rational explanation of how Brumbach would

56:30

still be in rigor mortis. Just

56:33

before trial, however, Bob received a

56:35

shocking blow to his defense when

56:37

it was revealed that Werner Schitz

56:39

wouldn't be able to testify at

56:41

trial. He was our star

56:43

witness. And then two weeks

56:46

before the trial is supposed to

56:48

start, this John Bonet

56:50

Ramsey special comes out and Spitz

56:53

is on it. And that's

56:55

when he just flat out says that her

56:57

brother did it. Can he even, he said

56:59

what he did it with. It was like

57:01

a lamp with like a square base. He's

57:03

like, he took it and he crushed her

57:06

skull with it like this. He crushed, you

57:08

know, he's like, it fits perfectly into the

57:10

skull where the skull was fractured. You know,

57:12

so then Spitz gets sued

57:14

immediately by her brother like the

57:16

next day. So like I'm

57:19

then getting phone calls from his

57:21

civil attorney because he sued him

57:23

for $200 million. So

57:26

like his civil, his civil attorneys, like, I

57:28

can't have him testify. I'm like, what are

57:30

you kidding me? I'm like, this is a

57:32

death penalty case here. So we end up

57:35

losing Spitz two weeks before trial. He

57:37

subs in a guy who

57:40

had the same scientific opinion,

57:42

but he's not Werner Spitz. He's

57:45

not the guy who worked on Kennedy's, you

57:47

know, autopsy for the Warren commission and every

57:49

other big case that's been out there in

57:51

the last 40 years. So it

57:53

was just, it was one thing after another man.

57:55

It was, it was a tough case, dude. It

57:58

was a tough case, but it makes. Thanks

58:00

for an amazing podcast, I'll tell you that.

58:03

Like with all aspects of any true

58:05

crime case, there are always two sides

58:07

to the story, and it was Bob's

58:10

job to give Anthony Garcia the best

58:12

events possible. To counter

58:14

Bob's Mother State timeline, the prosecution

58:16

offered multiple witnesses who testified the

58:19

prom bags were found still wearing

58:21

the exact same clothing they'd been

58:23

seen wearing earlier that day. If

58:26

you're interested in hearing more about this

58:29

case, Season 2 of the Defense Diaries

58:31

includes 50 episodes with

58:33

Bob Motta laying out the entire

58:35

case. I lay out

58:38

the entire case of the state and I'm

58:40

still not done with Garcia, so like we

58:42

haven't even gotten to trial yet, it's very

58:44

thorough. Like I go through all the evidence,

58:47

I talk about the alternate suspects, you know,

58:49

so listen to it and make your own

58:51

decision. Because I'm not trying to

58:53

convince anybody, believe me, that I call things

58:55

as I see them, if I think things

58:57

were done improperly, obviously I'm talking about that,

58:59

but it's not going to innocence or guilt,

59:02

that's going to how the case was tried.

59:04

You know, like I mean there were issues

59:06

between us and the state, it was a

59:08

hard fought case. So like

59:10

I honestly sit here and I

59:12

mean do I see a world in which he could have done

59:15

it? Yeah, I do. Do

59:17

I see a world in which he may not have done it? Yeah, I

59:19

do. But that's based

59:21

on the evidence, you know what I mean,

59:23

and just lack thereof. So it's a tough

59:25

case, man, and right now as it stands,

59:27

I've got a client that I represented that's

59:29

sitting on death row. So it's

59:31

a tough thing for me. I don't know

59:33

as I sit here now if Justice was

59:36

served. I mean if he's the guy, then

59:38

he's exactly where he should be. I

59:41

mean I can say that, but as I sit

59:43

here now, I honestly don't know the answer, man.

59:46

And I was as close to the case as you can get. By

59:51

the time of the sentencing, two years

59:54

later, Anthony was barely

59:56

recognizable. He'd put

59:58

on considerable weight. and it

1:00:00

appeared he hadn't shaved his beard since trial.

1:00:03

He was escorted into the courtroom in

1:00:05

a wheelchair and he looked

1:00:07

near catatonic with his eyes closed,

1:00:10

showing no reaction as the judge

1:00:12

sentenced him to death. Standing

1:00:15

up to speak on the victim's

1:00:17

behalf was Shirley Sherman's son, Jeff.

1:00:21

Mr. Garcia doesn't deserve my forgiveness. Doesn't

1:00:25

deserve nothing from my family or

1:00:27

anybody. All the innocent

1:00:29

victims that were taken. For

1:00:32

what? For a job. Who

1:00:36

does that? I'm left

1:00:38

with constant images from courtland photos

1:00:41

of my mom laying there in

1:00:43

a pool of raw blood with

1:00:46

an teenage butcher knife hanging on her neck. I

1:00:49

can't get those images ever out of my head. There's

1:00:53

a special place for

1:00:55

people like this and

1:00:58

I hope he ends up there. Thank

1:01:00

you, Mr. Sherman. Victim

1:01:09

Thomas Hunter would have been 22 years

1:01:11

old at the time of

1:01:13

the sentencing and it's easy

1:01:15

to imagine that the academically gifted

1:01:18

child might have followed in his

1:01:20

parents' footsteps, perhaps even

1:01:22

becoming a doctor himself. Today,

1:01:25

a life-size bronze statue

1:01:27

of Thomas sits on

1:01:29

the lawn outside Creighton Medical Center. The

1:01:32

image is an eternally young boy

1:01:34

playing in nature. At

1:01:37

the statue's dedication ceremony, Dr.

1:01:39

Hunter stated, the statue

1:01:42

captured Thomas's essence as

1:01:44

well as his spirit. The

1:01:47

chairman of Creighton's Department of Medicine told the

1:01:49

small crowd who gathered that Thomas's

1:01:52

life had been like a meteor. Though

1:01:55

their existence may be brief, they

1:01:57

light up the entire sky. If

1:02:17

you like deep dives were your thing. If you're

1:02:19

a one offer, we might not be

1:02:21

your thing because they are definitely deep dives. And

1:02:24

obviously I'm trying to teach people about the law,

1:02:26

you know, in the criminal justice system but I

1:02:28

try to do it in an interesting way so

1:02:30

it's not dry and boring. Most

1:02:32

of our fans I think really appreciate it.

1:02:34

And then we also have the docket and

1:02:36

I brought on my badass wife who's just

1:02:38

a pitbull of a defense attorney brilliant woman

1:02:41

and she is my co-host on the docket. So

1:02:43

check the pod out. The name of it is

1:02:45

Defense Dyers and you can find it anywhere you

1:02:47

can find your pods. And also check out our

1:02:49

YouTube channel which is Defense Dyers Podcast. We have

1:02:51

a ton of content on there as well. We're

1:02:53

always deep diving. I'm always trying to give you

1:02:55

the lawyer's perspective. So we look forward to you

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guys listening and hopefully you'll join the community. We'd

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