A Carson City man was found guilty Tuesday of first-degree murder in Santa Ana, Calif.
Anthony Thomas Garcia, of Carson City, was convicted by a jury of one count of first-degree murder. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 28, according to the Orange County, Calif., District Attorney’s Office.
On April 11, 2015, Abelardo “Abby” Lopez Estacion, 81, was found dead in his Newport Beach bedroom by his live-in caretaker. He had been strangled.
At the time of his death, Estacion had been arguing with members of his wife’s family over her assets, which included valuable real estate in several Orange County cities along with bank accounts. Estacion and Dortha Lamb had dated for more than 20 years, but had only recently been married. Garcia is the former boyfriend of Lamb’s granddaughter and he is the father of two of Lamb’s great-granddaughters.
Lamb was dying from terminal cancer and suffered from dementia at the time of her husband’s murder.
Lamb’s family members accused Estacion of capitalizing on his wife’s health issues in order to take control of her assets.
The day of Estacion’s murder Lamb’s family had asked a judge to grant a temporary restraining order against Estacion and force him to move out of the Newport Beach home. The judge denied the request.
Hours later, Estacion was strangled to death in his bedroom.
“The entire prosecution team worked tirelessly to ensure the family of Abby Lopez received justice and I could not be prouder of the work they did,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “This is a tragic case of how a family squabble over money and property crossed the line into murder. I want to thank the jurors for their careful consideration of the evidence and returning a guilty verdict that will keep a coldblooded killer behind bars for a very long time.”
