48 Hours - Resident Evil

Episode Date: May 7, 2017

Two double murders.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. Real people. Real crimes. Real life drama.

From the beginning this was strange. It happened in Dundee. It's a classic neighborhood, the heart of Omaha. Violent crime does not happen in Dundee. The mundane world of after school and then it's just shattered by a monster. I remember walking in their front door into this very nice home. There's a little boy lying face down in a very large pool of blood. You know, you think of Tommy Hunter, and you can't imagine what the last few seconds of his life were like. Smart kid, loved science, math.

Every parent's son. And then as you walk through the house and you get to the back door, you see this large pool of blood, this lady who had very evidently been pushed down to the ground and attacked. Shirley Sherman, grandma, gentle soul, hardworking.

To have anybody murdered is a shock to the community, but to have an 11-year-old boy and a housekeeper killed in the manner they were, I think is a whole other level. There didn't appear to be anything missing in the house. No robbery? No. There was no readily explainable reason behind what you see. On that day, one of the neighbors happened to notice a car that she wasn't familiar with. It was a fleeting glance at him and his vehicle.

Silver Honda CRV. Things went cold after the first couple months. How frustrated were you getting? Silver Honda CRV. Things went cold after the first couple months. How frustrated were you getting? Incredibly, I don't even know if I can put it into words. Beautiful Mother's Day. Tragedy strikes again. Dr. Roger Brumback and his wife, Mary, murdered. Detective, do you remember the first time you walked into this house? I do.

What did it look like? The aftermath of an incredibly brutal murder. Roger Brumback devoted portions of his medical career to childhood disease and then to Alzheimer's. Mary Brumback could not have had an enemy in the world. We walked through that first door. Scott and I had a real definitive moment after we walked through that house where we're like, you know, I've seen these things before, specifically with the wounds to the right side of the neck. You don't see a lot of knifings or stabbings that are like that.

When had the last time been that you had seen stabbings like that? It was 2008. With Thomas and Shirley. The mindset at that point was, there's a connection here. Light bulb must have gone off very brightly. It's incredible on so many levels. You can't help but be touched by the innocence of all of these victims. And then it's in peaceful neighborhoods on beautiful days.

This is a once inin-a-lifetime type story. I'm Jim Axelrod. Tonight on 48 Hours, Resident Evil. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reached the age of 10 that would still have urged it. It just happens to all of us.

I'm journalist Luke Jones, and for almost two years, I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+.

Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing the best idea yet. A brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy About the surprising origin stories Of the products you're obsessed with And the bolder risk takers who brought them to life

Like did you know that Super Mario The best selling video game character of all time Only exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye? Or Jack, that the idea for the McDonald's Happy Meal First came from a mom in Guatemala? From Pez dispensers to Levi's 501s to Air Jordans, discover the surprising stories of the most viral products. Plus, we guarantee that after listening, you're going to dominate your next dinner party. So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to

The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. It's just the best idea yet. Omaha, Nebraska, a proud beacon of America's Midwest, spreading out from the majestic banks of the Missouri River, home of the College World Series. Go to home run! And Warren Buffett, rich enough to live anywhere he chooses. My take on Omaha overall is it's a terrific place to live.

According to Todd Cooper, court reporter for the Omaha World-Herald, the secret heartbeat of this town is Creighton Medical Center. It resonates throughout the community. You can't go anywhere without running into someone who is Creighton born and bred. How long was your career at Creighton? 40 years. Drs. Shonda and Agendra Butra loved and respected their Creighton colleagues. You both knew Dr. Hunter? Yes. His office is right next to my office. The Butras were close friends with Drs. Bill and Claire Hunter,

the parents of 11-year-old Thomas. What were they like? Nice people. Dedicated to their hospital. He was very well loved by residents and students. The Hunters and their four children lived here, a handsome home in that upscale, close-knit neighborhood known as Dundee. It's a classic neighborhood. Neighbors in each other's business, common areas where kids play. March 13th, 2008, Dr. Claire Hunter was attending a conference in Hawaii, and Bill was busy at the pathology lab. The school bus camera captures Tom arriving home. Smart kid, love to play Xbox, drink Dr. Pepper, eat potato chips. Tom Hunter, a very bright, very normal sixth grader. His three

older brothers already out of the house waiting for Tom, the Hunter's part-time housekeeper, Shirley Sherman. When you think of your mom, what are some of the words that come into mind? Mother, caregiver, grandmother, nurturer. For her son Jeff and her younger brother Brad, Shirley was the rock-solid, hard-working

centerpiece of their extended family. Anytime you'd go over there, first thing she'd always want to do is make sure she had coffee and if you want something to eat, I'll fix you something. Tom grabbed a snack and settled into this basement playroom with his chips, soda, and his Xbox. his Xbox. Five o'clock, Dr. Hunter left his pathology lab at Creighton and began the 10-minute ride home. He came home from work immediately walking in the back door and he encountered Shirley. And just a few feet away lay his son Tom. The doctor knew immediately it was too late for an ambulance. He called 911. They told him to get out of the house and wait for first responders to come. Detective Derek Moyse,

18 years on the Omaha PD, and his partner, Sergeant Scott Warner, describe a crime scene that would consume and haunt them. Incredibly sad scenario. Just the manner and the brutality of it. And in the basement, cops found that still life of Tom's world interrupted by madness. His Xbox was online and you could see his bag of chips and his Dr. Pepper. Not surprisingly, it was evident Shirley had been hard at work. You see her bucket of cleaning supplies just kind of dropped haphazardly right where Thomas was. Tom Hunter and Shirley Sherman had been stabbed to death. Sherman had been stabbed to death.

And as if sending some dark, raging, homicidal message, knives had been left in the victims and around the house. But what was the motive for murder? Something's just not adding up here. My mom had $833

in cash in her purse. It wasn't even touched. The hunters have a lot of valuables there. None of that appeared to have been touched. I imagine the community must have been unglued. I think the city as a whole, an 11-year-old boy doesn't get killed in his home. It just doesn't happen.

For detectives Moise, Warner, and the other investigators, the horror of these gut-wrenching murders would soon be paired with a deep frustration. The crime scene left them little to go on. No DNA, no motive, no apparent suspects. One of the neighbors happened to notice a car that she wasn't familiar with. One of the neighbors happened to notice a car that she wasn't familiar with. That was the first clue, and it would one day prove critical. The neighbor's sighting of a silver Honda SUV with out-of-state plates prowling the streets of Dundee. It caught her attention not only because of the car, but watching an individual that had exited the car take a satchel and then walk northbound on this street.

Moisen Warner played out one scenario after the next. And it occupied our lives every day. And when I say every day, I mean all day. Was Shirley the target? Might Tom have attracted an online predator to his basement playroom? Was there something that occurred online over his gaming, over a computer? And there was Creighton itself. Were the murders a gruesome act of vengeance by a disgruntled former employee targeting Tom's parents, the Hunters.

Detectives briefly considered this man, Dr. Anthony Garcia, a former resident in the pathology program. Bill Hunter had fired Garcia back in 2001, but... Bill Hunter dismissed Anthony Garcia when they brought up his name in an interview. Now, yeah, he got fired, but he left quietly. Every lead seemed like a dead end, leaving nothing but shattered families. You just can't put it out of your mind. We did not want it to just go away, disappear.

They want answers, and the only people they can really turn to is us. Was there ever a point for either of you where you thought, we're just never going to find out who did this? Sure. Yes. Absolutely. Yeah, there was. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. The scary cult classic was set in the Chicago housing project. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. Candyman. Candyman? Now we all know chanting a name won't make a killer magically appear, but did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was

struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. We're going to talk to the people who were there, and we're also going to uncover the larger story. My architect was shocked when he saw how this was created. Literally shocked. And we'll look at what the story tells us about injustice in America. If you really believed in tough on crime, then you wouldn't make it easy to crawl into medicine cabinets and kill our women. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind

the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your podcasts. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty, her specialty representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created.

She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informant's Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. It was clear to us that Thomas had been attacked first. The horrific crime scene in the Hunter House in Dundee

gave investigators plenty to puzzle over and think through. We just didn't see anything that would have precipitated the murders. Even after a couple of weeks into the investigation, we didn't know if Thomas was the intended victim, if it was Shirley, if it was the Hunter House, the hunters themselves, or if it was a completely random act.

Moise and Warner kept grinding and getting nowhere. It was a mystery for years. Let's talk about Mother's Day 2013. We took a couple and we took them out for Mother's Day brunch and they're older people and he was with the walker. That Mother's Day, fate brushed the Butras, and it all started after that brunch with their slow-moving elderly guest. He took forever to get to his car, and Dr. Butras' husband ribbed him at the time and said, you are killing us here, like you are taking forever.

The irony being he actually may have been saving their lives. The Butras, both doctors at Creighton, finally began their short drive home when they got a call. Their burglar alarm was going off. So I went to the basement. This door was open about an inch, pushed it back in. The door was ajar, but nothing was out of place. They had no idea how lucky they were.

Cops say the intruder moved on just a few miles down the road to the home of Dr. Roger Brumback and his wife Mary. to the home of Dr. Roger Brumback and his wife Mary. Roger Brumback was in his old clothes, painting the entryway of his house, getting it ready to sell. They were moving away. They were going to retire. They were on the cusp of what we all work for. And they had talked to their daughter via FaceTime.

His daughter cracked a joke. She screenshot it. It was shortly after that FaceTime, his daughter cracked a joke. She screenshot it. It was shortly after that FaceTime chat that Creighton doctor Roger Brumback answered a knock at the door. And boom. Just immediately shot. It would be two days before anyone knew the extent and the nature of the carnage inside the Brumbacks' home. We showed up to move a piano here, and nobody answered the door. Jason Peterson, a piano mover, showed up as scheduled. And I opened up the front glass door to yell inside, hello, and that's when I seen a gun clip on the floor.

Like a magazine. A magazine on the floor. The piano mover called the cops. There's a gun clip and some bullets on the floor. Like a magazine? A magazine on the floor. The piano mover called the cops. There's a gun clip and some bullets on the floor. I just think there's something going on in this house. That day, detectives Derek Moyse and Scott Warner just happened to be on call. We walked through that front door. There was the loaded magazine that the movers had spotted. He also found a spent shell casing stuck between the double doors. And just beyond that in the entryway was Roger Brumback,

where you could see he had gunshot wounds. We would also see very evident stab marks on the right side of his neck, just below his right ear. And inside the main living room area of that main floor, and that's where we'd find Mary Brumback. She had very clear defensive wounds on her hands, which were indicative of her trying to put up a defense. And we had knives that were left in that crime scene. The carnage just inside the front door of the Brumback's house was shocking, even for longtime homicide detectives. But there was something else about the crime scene that hit them almost instantly, a sickening familiarity. Specifically with the wounds to the right side of the neck.

And when I saw those both on the male victim and on the female victim, you don't see a lot of knifings or stabbings that are like that. The wounds were a mirror image to those suffered by Tom Hunter and Shirley Sherman in 2008. And then you find out the victim worked as a doctor at Creighton's Medical School. Then you two must look at each other and say, we can't ignore this. We got something here. Oh, no. Roger Brumback was not only a doctor at Creighton, but he worked out of the same office as Tom Hunter's father, Bill, the pathology department. Roger Brumback was chairman, and Bill Hunter was in charge of the residence. We knew we had these similarities in the crime scenes and the weapons that were used

and this connection to the pathology department. The cold case that had mystified Omaha for five frustrating years was heating up. Your mind's going a million miles an hour. You consciously have to make yourself slow down. The next day, cops got a call from the Butras telling detectives about that alarm that went off at their home on Mother's Day, the same day the Brumbacks were believed to have been murdered. We have Dr. Hunter.

Whose son Tom had been murdered in 2008. We have Dr. Brumback. Who had just been gunned down in his doorway. And now Dr. Brumback. Who had just been gunned down in his doorway. And now Dr. Bittra. A colleague of Drs. Hunter and Brumback in Creighton's pathology department. Who are they in a position to affect the most? And the obvious answer was, of course, the residents at that pathology training program. And from that point on, that's what we looked at. We went to Creighton

University and we pulled the files from every resident within that program starting, I think, in 2000. And one of the files you got belonged to Anthony Garcia. Anthony Garcia. Omaha police had heard his name before. That Creighton pathology resident the cops had barely considered back in 2008. He had been fired. And Garcia's professor in the pathology department, Dr. Shanda Butra. What kind of student was he? Bad guy and a bad student. And Dr. Butra didn't hold back on her feelings in several reviews, she prepared for Bill Hunter. I was trying very hard to convince Bill to get rid of him, yes. And that's exactly what happened.

Hunter and Brumback fired Garcia. His letter of termination began to look like a smoking gun. And the signatures are Dr. William Hunter and Dr. Roger Brumback? Mm-hmm. Correct. So in his mind, if he's trying to figure out who's responsible for his termination, he's thinking of three people. Brumback, Hunter, and Buttre.

Yes. Every time Anthony Garcia is looking for a job, this letter signed by Brumback and Hunter. Kind of seemingly was coming back to haunt him. Where does this case, where is it in terms of your frontal lobe? It's ever present. It's at the forefront, for sure. It's been a constant since 2008. Two sets of murders, five years apart, with a common thread, Creighton University. I always felt there was something to do with Creighton. Meanwhile, Detective Derek Moyse

was learning as much as he could about former Creighton resident Anthony Garcia. After I got the Garcia book, every time I turned a page, I was learning something new that I felt was relevant, that I felt was going to carry me on to the next step. For Moise, Garcia was looking more and more like his number one suspect, but an unlikely one. Anthony Garcia, Who is he? You know, a decidedly middle class kid, played football, grew up in Walnut, California. Walnut, California is a place where dreams really do come true. A pristine suburb in a golden valley about an hour east of Los Angeles. It was a loving home. We're encouraged to, you know, do the right thing. Fernando Garcia is Anthony's younger brother,

keenly aware of what his family has accomplished. My mom was born in Mexico and came here, and, you know, my dad was born here. You know, my dad fought in Vietnam. They didn't have a lot. They were able to achieve, you know, the American dream. For Fred, who worked for the post office, and Estella, a registered nurse, a cornerstone of their dream was their firstborn child, Anthony.

He was healthy, playful. He played football. What kind of student was Anthony? He was good. He was a good student. He was an altar boy. He wanted to get along with people, not confrontational. There was college in California and then med school in Utah. He wanted to be a brain surgeon. You must have been enormously proud. Of course. Oh, yes. Yes. Then, in 1999, came a journey most parents only dream of. His dad described packing all of Anthony's belongings into a van and driving cross-country, father and son. Dad couldn't have been prouder. Father and son were headed here, Bassett St. Elizabeth's, in Utica, New York. It would be Anthony Garcia's first residency, and it didn't go well.

I did not know he was having trouble. Garcia's professors accused him of behaving unprofessionally, including yelling at a radiology technician. Under pressure, Garcia resigned and the firstborn son headed back home. When he came back, he was not the same. He looked very tired, almost exhausted. But he wasn't giving up. And in July of 2000, Anthony Garcia got what few residents ever do,

a second chance. I was happy he was getting a job. That's when Garcia began his residency in the pathology department at Creighton. Academically, he was very poor. But there was much more than poor academics. Pranking a chief resident, rolling a body onto its face so that it becomes disfigured. He would write emails to Dr. Hunter complaining about Dr. Butra. I mean, this guy was a child cloaked with a medical degree. Then in 2001, after multiple incidents and those bad performance reviews by Dr. Butra, Creighton had its fill of Anthony Garcia. What does it mean for a resident to be terminated?

Pretty serious. It pretty much ends your medical career. Anthony Garcia headed home once again. He said it didn't work out. Did he complain about the people? He did not complain about the people. No, he didn't complain about anything. He never complained about anybody.

Those who knew and still love him believe Anthony struggled with depression and migraine headaches and was overwhelmed by the rigorous work required to fulfill his American dream of becoming a doctor. I can see that taking a toll on somebody psychologically, emotionally. Did you get the sense at all that Anthony felt he had failed? Not at all. I think he was adamant about continuing with that career. And miraculously, in 2003, Anthony Garcia got a third chance. Working as a resident at the University of Illinois Hospital, he somehow managed to get a medical license to practice in the state of Illinois. But for the state of Illinois, this guy does not have a medical license to practice in the state of Illinois. But for the state of Illinois, this guy

does not have a medical license anywhere. For the next few years, Anthony Garcia bounced around the country working where he could. Clinics. Even a prison hospital. With every new state he moved to, Garcia had to apply for a medical license there. And those who had the authority to grant that license would learn of his dismissal from Creighton. And each time, he would pay a price for his past. To get licensure in another state, they would be sending Creighton University very specific requests about Anthony Garcia's time at Creighton University. And those responses were not positive. They were not positive.

It doesn't take a detective or even a physician to read those as a layperson and say, that's not going to help him get licensure or a job. Investigators discovered that in February 2008, Garcia was living in Louisiana. discovered that in February 2008, Garcia was living in Louisiana. The state denied his application for a medical license due in part to his termination from Creighton. Less than three weeks later, Tom Hunter and Shirley Sherman were brutally murdered. The pieces of Anthony Garcia's past were coming together in front of Moise and Warner.

But could they place him in Dundee in 2008, on the day of Tom and Shirley's murder? Moise wondered what kind of car Garcia was driving back then. So he checked his reports. And I remember it was on page 11 of that report that between July of 2007 and July of 2009, Anthony Garcia had a Honda CR-V registered to him at a Shreveport, Louisiana address. After discovering the make and model, Moyse ran the VIN number to get the color.

And it came back as a silver Honda CR-V. It was 2013. The slaughter of four innocent people over the course of five years had left Omaha staggered and searching for answers. This is something that really had upset the community, the city, the region. It evolved into something so much bigger than any of us were used to. But its origin was right here. The pathology department at Creighton University Medical Center, where Dr. Brumback was the head of the department and Dr. Hunter was in charge of the residence.

It was also here, investigators allege, that Anthony Garcia developed his twisted motive for murder. It's unfathomable. A grudge that festers for seven years before the first killings and 12 years before the second set of killings, that's unheard of. A grudge that wouldn't quit. Revenge for being fired was the motive. The theory of the case, Moise and Warner began to build. But Fernando Garcia, Anthony's younger brother, wasn't buying it. There's been millions of people fired who don't come back and kill somebody. And by 2013, Garcia was long gone from Omaha, living 500 miles away in Terre Haute, Indiana. He had been fired again, this time from that job as a medical worker in a prison. Still, he had

a Ferrari in his driveway and appeared to be living the high life. But that wasn't the information cops craved. I needed to find out where he was on May 12th, 2013. The day Roger and Mary Brumback were murdered. Garcia's electronic records lit up the trail. We have this phone call accessing a cell tower in Atlantic, Iowa, which is only an hour away from Omaha. He had made a purchase at a Wingstop restaurant in Omaha. And Anthony Garcia was caught on camera just outside Omaha buying a case of Bud Light that very same day. At this point, do you have a suspect you want to arrest? Yes. Detectives headed for Garcia's Terre Haute home, but when they got there,

he was nowhere to be found. Our concern was that he was leaving Terre Haute and he was headed south towards Louisiana. Where there were other people that you felt he perceived had wronged him? Yes. Cops feared Garcia was out to kill again. Omaha detectives were now working with nearby law enforcement agencies and the FBI. And at 8.30 a.m., Illinois State Police spotted Garcia's car. And at 8.30 a.m., Illinois State Police spotted Garcia's car. He was pulled over, drunk and on his knees, in the middle of the road.

Anthony Garcia was arrested. In his car, a crowbar, a sledgehammer, and a gun. We got a call that he was in custody. And what did that sound like? Relief. Yeah. With Garcia under arrest, cops entered his house in Terre Haute. It was barren.

It didn't look like somebody planned on really coming back. Omaha detective Ryan Davis got the first look into a dark and conflicted world through Garcia's chilling words. We live. We die. We live. We die. On top of the dining room table are all these documents. I would call them documents of success. A medical degree, a deed to his house. And then he's got this bag, this trash bag in his kitchen sink.

Inside the trash bag were more documents submerged in a liquid. It looked to detectives like someone was trying to destroy them. These documents really give you chills. He's talking about going to the store, buying broccoli, butter, shrimp. Anthony Garcia's shopping list, from the ordinary to the ominous. As you can see here, it says invade rich house, torture, murder. Over here it says rich children, gun, invade, kill, knife, kidnap family, SUV, torture, kill. And there was also something familiar soaking in the sink. Those negative performance reviews written by Dr. Shonda Butra

and Garcia's termination letter, signed by Drs. Hunter and Brumback. The motivation for these murders was all right there in that sink. That sink full of evidence wasn't all detectives found. Their investigation led them to a key witness at Garcia's favorite haunt, Club Coyote. Who's Cecilia Hoffman? At the time, she was a stripper at a strip club in Terre Haute, Indiana. Mr. Garcia was a regular customer. A roadside strip joint.

The one place Anthony Garcia's childhood dreams still had life. When he came in the door, they would announce that Dr. Tony was in the house and he had all this money. Cecilia told Detective Davis that Garcia wanted more than just a dance. He wanted a girlfriend. That wasn't what she wanted. So she stated to us that she started to try to distance herself from him. Omaha cops recorded Cecilia's haunting story. I'm putting on my little voice and saying, well, Dr. Tony, I only like bad boys.

I'm a bad girl. He couldn't, you know, he couldn't handle a girl like me. And then that's when he told me. He told me I wasn't as good as he thought he was. He said, I killed you before. He said, I killed a young boy and an old woman. Anthony Garcia confesses to the murders of Thomas Hunter and Shirley Sherman as a way to try to impress a stripper? Right. The police fugitive unit would extradite Garcia back here to Omaha. And on July 23, 2013, right here at the Douglas County Courthouse, Dr. Anthony Garcia was formally charged with four counts of first-degree murder. There wasn't anything in this case I don't think that was like our big piece of evidence. I think there were a lot of pieces and when you put them

together that's what makes it overwhelming. And it all points to Anthony Garcia. Lead prosecutor Don Klein and his deputy Brenda Beadle would lay out Nebraska's capital murder case against Anthony Garcia. They're trying to put my client to death, and I was going to do whatever I had to do to get him a fair trial, if at all possible. And Bob Mata Jr., his father and their legal associates, were the Chicago-based powerhouse defense team Anthony Garcia's parents spent their entire life savings to hire. Did your son kill Tommy Hunter, Shirley Sherman, Roger and Mary Brumback?

I don't know. If... If he did, it's a totally different person that they're talking about. It's a totally different person that they're talking about. Omaha, September 26, 2016. Fifteen years after he was fired from Creighton, the quadruple murder trial of a very different- looking Anthony Garcia finally began. Just the innocence in this. Every one of those people were just going about their days,

their lives, and then Anthony Garcia comes knocking. Knocking with his grudge. Garcia's motto, summed up by the prosecution prosecution in a single word, revenge. He googled it, he searched for it, he searched for that term. Including a quote in his phone, Shakespeare quote. Merchant of Venice, if you harm us, shall I not revenge? Their theory is revenge, revenge. If you take out that element, that leaves them with absolutely a giant gaping hole in their tapestry where the entire thing becomes unwoven. No cameras were allowed in court. The Matas of Chicago went at the prosecution like heavyweights. They brought a lot of fire.

Revenge, suggested the Matas, was just a fancy theory. And in fact, the Matas produced this letter of recommendation for Anthony Garcia, written by Dr. Hunter just a few days after Garcia was fired from Creighton. We terminated him, but we don't want him to be jobless destitute. We want him to rehabilitate and find some other job. And the modder's take on the star witness, Cecilia Hoffman, who Garcia had allegedly confessed to?

A strung out stripper at the time. I think she's a liar. At the time that she gives the interview, she's intoxicated, she's popping script pills every day. She has no credibility. Well, I thought she was extremely credible. And she had nothing to gain by coming forward. She was subjected to a very long and extensively vigorous cross-examination. And she didn't waver.

And the jury saw that. And the jury saw this. The other piece of the gun was found off the highway on an exit ramp right by Terre Haute, Indiana. The gun cops believe Garcia used to kill Roger Brumback. That's an unbelievable coincidence. It's amazing. to kill Roger Brumback. That's an unbelievable coincidence. It's amazing.

The serial number matches the one on this gun box found in his Terre Haute apartment. And at the Butras' home, on this doorknob, there was DNA, and there was controversy between Jeremy Jorgensen of Garcia's defense team and prosecutor Don Klein. There was DNA evidence that pointed to Anthony Garcia. in of Garcia's defense team and prosecutor Don Klein. There was DNA evidence that pointed to Anthony Garcia. The DNA evidence on the doorknob was as watered down and weak as DNA evidence can possibly be. The Matas insisted cops could not place Garcia in Omaha for the first set of murders.

And they argued this. Anthony Garcia was not the only disgruntled employee at Creighton. That buying chicken wings and beer on the day of the Brumbacks murder didn't make their client a killer. And that he was simply looking for a job again in the Omaha area. If Nebraska puts Anthony Garcia to death, they will never do it. Is an innocent man dying? I believe so. I believe so. Yeah.

After more than 50 witnesses and 15 days of emotional testimony, the case went to the jury. It took just seven hours, and then the jury spoke as one. Anthony Garcia, guilty of murder in the deaths of Thomas Hunter, Shirley Sherman, and Roger and Mary Brumback. Anthony Garcia, who didn't testify, guilty on all counts. You know, the breath just kind of comes out of you. And it brings a lot of emotions back, because you think about... I can see. About Thomas and Shirley and Roger and Mary.

For two cops, it was the answer to nearly a decade of relentless work. You have been called the hero of this story. Not at all. You can't shake that off fast enough. Oh, yeah, no, not at all. You're describing to me a tireless investigation by a lot of detectives in our department and other agencies.

But Omaha, that proud Midwestern city, wasn't buying Derek Moyse and Scott Warner's modest ways. And when they approached a room full of the victims' loved ones... Tell me what happened. You walked in? I don't even want to say it. Why not? I don't know. I can see it in your face.

This was the most emotional moment, wasn't it? One of them, yes, for sure. The victim's families stood and applauded. It's very gratifying. That's, I think, why we do what we do. It's very gratifying. That's, I think, why we do what we do. And just finally, after seven years, you can kind of let it go a little bit. Say, okay, these families have got their answer.

Three families shattered. Three plus one. They got the wrong person. I still don't believe it. Will you be at the sentencing? Yes. The firstborn son of hardworking people. He grew up in a healthy environment. What changed him? I don't know.

The boy who followed his dream, now up for the death penalty. I have to be there. I don't know if I ever see him again. I'm sorry. Okay, Stella. If there is room for irony in a murder story, it belongs to the Butras. Police believe that the Butras, not the Brumbacks, would be dead if the Butras had not been at that Mother's Day brunch

with their slow-moving elderly friend. If you had been home 20 minutes earlier, what would have happened? We would be both dead. We would be having this conversation. It was either them or us. Outside Creighton Medical Center, where every single day countless doctors bind wounds, help, and heal, there sits in the cool stillness a statue. It is Tom Hunter, forever an 11-year-old child, at play for eternity. Anthony Garcia has stopped communicating with his defense team and his family.

A three-judge panel will decide if Garcia will be sentenced to death. A court date has not been set. The Butras think they may have been targeted by Anthony Garcia more than once. Hear more at 48hours.com. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.