True Crime-Paranormal-Conspiracy Theories Stories Part V #Wattys2023

Anthony Garcia

Anthony Joseph Garcia (born June 7, 1973) is an American serial killer and former medical doctor who was convicted of two separate double murders, committed in 2008 and 2013 in Omaha, Nebraska. Garcia was arrested in July 2013 and went to trial in October of 2016. He was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to death.

Early life and practice

Garcia was born on June 7, 1973, in Los Angeles, California, to Fred, a postal service worker, and Estella, a nurse born in Mexico. He has two younger siblings.

Garcia received his medical degree from the University of Utah in 1999. He then began a residency at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center where he remained for approximately six months before being forced to resign for "unprofessional and inappropriate conduct."

In July 2000, Garcia began another residency in the pathology department at the Creighton University Medical Center - Bergan Mercy in Omaha, Nebraska. He soon received poor reviews from Dr. Chandra Bewtra, a professor of his, who later told reporters, "He had an attitude problem. He just did not want to learn. I thought he was arrogant; he was mean. He liked to hurt people and derive pleasure from there. And so he was not a nice person." Garcia responded to Bewtra's reviews with threats to sue. Despite his threats, Garcia was terminated for "erratic behavior" within a year by Drs. William Hunter and Roger Brumback.

Garcia then moved on to the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), where he worked from 2001 to 2003. He later told authorities that he left due to poor health, migraine headaches, and depression.

Then, Garcia enrolled in a psychiatry residency program at LSU Health Sciences Center Shreveport in Shreveport, Louisiana. He remained there until February 27, 2008, when the State Board of Medical Examiners informed him that he may not qualify for a medical license; due to the fact he had not reported his failure to finish the pathology programs at Creighton or UIC. Garcia left the next day. He then applied for and received a temporary license to practice medicine in Indiana, until he withdrew that application.

In 2009, Garcia was hired to work as a contract physician in Chicago.

The Creighton murders

On March 13, 2008, about two weeks after Garcia left LSU, Dr. William Hunter arrived at his home in Dundee and found the bodies of his 11-year-old son Thomas and 57-year-old housekeeper Shirlee Sherman, both of whom had been stabbed to death with knives apparently taken from the home's kitchen. Omaha police detectives Derek Mois and Scott Warner were assigned to the case. Witnesses described a heavy-set olive-skinned male in the vicinity, correlating him to a silver Honda CRV with an out-of-state license plate. Police produced a sketch of the man's face based on those descriptions.

Omaha police investigated the Hunter family including Thomas' online gaming presence but found no leads. Additionally, detectives investigated Shirlee Sherman and her family, theorizing that she may have been the intended target, but also found no viable suspects. They also investigated another stabbing that had occurred in the area, but detectives could not find a connection between the suspects in that case and the murders at the Hunter home. Shirlee Sherman's family offered a $50,000 reward for information on the case and also hired a private investigator. However, a year after the murders, the case went cold.

On May 14, 2013, piano mover Jason Peterson and his crew arrived at the home of Roger Brumback and his wife Mary. First thinking no one was home, one mover noted a handgun magazine lying in the home's open doorway and police were called. Peterson later told reporters that he saw Roger Brumback's body in the home, but no blood.

Coincidentally, detectives Mois and Warner were dispatched to the Brumback home. Detectives found that Roger had multiple gunshot wounds and a stab wound to his neck, and Mary had been stabbed to death, apparently with knives taken from the home's kitchen. Mois later stated that he and his partner immediately thought that the murders were similar to those at the Hunter home, and their suspicion of a connection between the crimes was bolstered when police learned that Dr. Brumback had been a colleague of Dr. Hunter. Additionally, it was determined that the couple had been dead for a day or two. Reporter Todd Cooper noted that the Brumbacks were last seen and heard from the previous Sunday, Mother's Day, during an online chat with their daughter.