True Crime All The Time - Antolin Garcia-Torres

Episode Date: August 18, 2025

15-year-old Sierra LaMar left home to walk to her bus stop on a Friday morning near her California home. Although a man was convicted of murdering her five years later, Sierra has never been found. The authorities were able to narrow down the timeline of when Sierra was taken to around ten minutes. But the details that eventually emerged were shocking.Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss Antolin Garcia-Torres. Even as the evidence began mounting against him, Antolin maintained his innocence. His defense team was able to delay his trial for years and mounted a spirited defense. How the jury interpreted the evidence was key. The big question was around sentencing and whether they would hand down life or death.You can help support the show at patreon,com/truecrimeallthetimeVisit the show's website at truecrimeallthetime.com for contact, merchandise, and donation informationAn Emash Digital productionSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 447 of the True Crime All the Time podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and with me as always is my partner in True Crime, Mike Gibson. How are you? Hey, I'm doing good. How about yourself? I'm doing great. That's good. Yeah, we talked about it on Patreon, but my daughter graduated on this past Friday.

She did. And then she started her adult job on Monday. Yeah. So she really had zero break. Went right to it. Yeah. But I know she's excited. but also, you know, there's some trepidation there, you know.

You have that. What it's like to start your big boy, big girl job. Yes. You know, this is not one that you can just walk away from, like the ones in high school. Right. Actually, got to get up, get ready, be there on time. And I think you're supposed to do that for all of them, but the importance that, yeah, does ratchet up a little bit. Let's go ahead and give our Patreon chat.

out as we had Mariella. Hey, Mariella. Beth Carson. Well, thank you, Beth. Dale Lynn McCubbins. What's going on, Dale? Candy. Hey, Candy.

Cindy Taw. Hey, thanks, Cindy. Carly Tate. There's good old Carly. And last but not least, Peggy Deal Higgins. Well, thank you, Peggy. And then if we go back into the vault, this week, we selected Morgan Wicks.

What's going on, Morgan? Yeah, we appreciate the new Patreon support, the continued support. We also had a great PayPal donation. from Parker Darren Becker. The Darren Becker of the famous Darren Becker. Of the Darren Becker's.

Yes. Thank you. So thanks to Parker. Gibbs, we have a brand new episode out right now on True Crime All the Time on Salt. We're going international. We're talking about Jan Jonson.

This is a man who in 2019 traveled from his home in Iceland to Dublin to play in this poker tournament. And then kind of, you know, not long into a lot of, his trip, he walked out of his hotel and was never seen again. So we'll get into all the details and the mysteries around it. Who doesn't like a little bit of poker in a story too? Yeah, I love to play poker. Texas Holdenum is my favorite. All right, buddy, are you ready to get into

this episode of True Crime all the time? I am ready. We're talking about Antelan Garcia Torres. 15-year-old Sierra Lamar left home to walk to her bus stop on a Friday morning. Although a man was convicted of murdering her five years later, Sierra has never been found. Sierra grew up in Fremont, California. But in 2012, she and her mother moved to the city of Morgan Hill. Sierra was a sophomore cheerleader at Sobrado High School. March 16, 2012, started off as a normal Friday morning, but C.A. Sierra didn't show up to school like she was supposed to.

According to a statement of facts from the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, Sierra normally left home at 7.15 a.m. to walk to her bus stop, which was several blocks away. It was an unmarked bus stop. And Sierra was the only student who used it. The bus normally arrived at 7.24 a.m. I was a bus rider for most of my school years. Yeah, I was as well.

And back then, I think still to this day, most bus stops are unmarked. It's not like there's a sign that says bus stop. Yeah, unless you're at one of the schools where they use the public transportation. Yeah. But, you know, in the neighborhood, there's a whole bunch of stops within my neighborhood. Oh, yeah. They're not going to have a sign at each one. So they're all unmarked.

But, okay, if the bus stop is several blocks away. And you're the only one who ever uses it. I think as a parent, that would be a little concerning. I know when my kids were little, I could see their bus stop from outside the window. Yeah, you can keep an eye on it. And that gave me, you know, peace of mind. But that's obviously not going to be true for everyone.

Sometimes parents leave before their kids even go out to the bus stop. And so they're not there anyway. But I don't know. There was just something about that, you know, safety and numbers type of thing. It's not an ideal situation. Yeah, I mean, the bus stop I would ride when I was younger, my parents couldn't see it. You know, I just walked with my brother, one of my brothers, and a couple of neighbors, and we would just walk a couple blocks and stand there and wait for the bus. Your brother, Darrell and your other brother, Darrell.

Yeah, exactly. Sierra was up by 6 a.m. and getting ready for school. By this time, her mother's boyfriend had already left for work, and her mother left shortly after. At 7, Sierra posted a photo of her on social media. At 7-11, she texted a classmate. They agreed to meet before class to compare homework and share makeup. But Sierra never got on the bus, and she never made it to school. She wasn't home when her mother arrived from work. work, which was unusual. That evening, Sierra's mother, Marlene Lamar, received an automated call from the school, informing her Sierra was absent that day. And, you know, when I saw that in the research, I thought that was very strange. Not that she received an automated call, but that it came in the evening. After school was already completed. Yeah. I mean, normally, you know, if my kids didn't go to school, and I failed to call them out sick, which my wife would always tell me to do, but sometimes I would forget, that automated call would come fairly early. Yeah.

I was thinking like 9, 10 o'clock. That's how mine was too. Yeah, for my kids. Because what's the point of the notification if it doesn't come until school's already over? Too late at that point. Marlene reported Sierra missing to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office. And she insisted Sierra was not a runaway. Now, it is 2012.

She's only 15 years old. But could police have at least entertained the thought? Well, could she have run away? Yeah. It's a possibility. 15-year-olds can run away. 15-year-olds can easily be frustrated with their parents and say, I don't want to be here anymore.

And say they're going to take off for a little bit. a tracking dog, Trace Sierra sent from her house to a point midway down the street where the dog appeared to lose the scent. And what do you make of that, Gibbs? Or what's the first thing that comes to your mind? Yeah, for me, it's an immediate heartbreak because we've done enough of these cases that I'm like, oh man, she got in a car with somebody. Yeah, that's what I always think when a dog has the scent. but somewhere along a road, it loses it. And my natural inclination is to think, well, that's where somebody got into a car. On March 17, 2012, Sierra's cell phone was found at the intersection of Scheller and Santa

Teresa and Morgan Hill. The phone was found on the side of the road leading to her house as if it had been thrown out of a vehicle. on March 18th, Sierra's purse was found near the intersection of Laguna and Santa Teresa in Morgan Hill, just about two miles from her home. Again, the purse was thrown off the side of the road as if it were thrown out of a vehicle. Well, it's not looking good. No, it's not because one thing that we know is that a 15-year-old girl is not going to voluntarily separate. herself from her cell phone.

And most people don't separate themselves from their purse. They have a lot of stuff in there that, you know, is either valuable or they need on a daily basis. And this idea that it appeared as though it had been thrown out of a vehicle, you know, couple that with the dog losing the scent. Right. And it really paints kind of a dire picture. It does.

inside the purse was Sierra's shirt, bra, underwear, and jeans, all of which were neatly folded. It seems strange. It does seem strange. It also, you know, it takes my mind to a place that I don't want to go. You know, why does this very young girl have her clothing put inside a purse that is then thrown out of a vehicle? Sierra's school books were also found.

The items were discovered near a shed in a field. At this point, FBI agents were called in to assist the investigation. And divers searched nearby reservoirs. Hundreds of volunteers combed through farmland. Sheriff's spokesman Jose Cardoza said, is quoted by NBC Bay Area. There is no evidence of foul play. And I understand that statement.

now what we've talked about so far doesn't paint a good picture but you can make arguments right if you were going to run away do you throw your phone out of the window because you don't want to be tracked yeah if you're going to run away maybe i don't know why you need to throw your purse out the window right with clothes in it but i think that stuff just on its own is you could say is not of foul play. In my mind, it's not looking good. It's not a good thing. Cardoza said it wasn't clear if the clothing inside the purse was the clothes Sierra was wearing when she was last seen or if she brought them along with her. He also said the clothes contained no forensic evidence that pointed to a crime or a person of interest. Authorities

did not release the information earlier because they were waiting on forensic analysis. Cardoza also would not confirm reports that the purse or clothing had urine on it. Okay. Well, obviously, if you're being asked that question, there's something that's leading people to believe that that is true. Yeah, either somebody leaked some information and they're just wanting confirmation of that. Really, it sounds like probably would happen. But if the clothing had urine on. on it. To me, and again, my mind is going to dark places, but I can envision a 15 year old

being snatched into a vehicle and it being such a terrifying experience that, you know, they wet themselves. They, you know, they're scared out of their wits. Sure. Yeah. And maybe the clothing is removed because, you know, it's, it's filthy. It's, got pee all over it. It's folded up or put into a purse and the purse is thrown out the window. That could happen. It could happen. It could happen.

But again, if it happens that way, it's not good, right? Exactly. On March 21st, during the extensive search for Sierra, her father, Steve Lamar, released a statement about his prior conviction for sex crimes. Investigators emphasized that he was not a suspect and had been fully cooperative. NBC Bay Area published the statement in full. It read, my name is Steve Lamar. My daughter, Sierra, has been missing since last Friday, March 16th.

I'm releasing this statement to address a recent report that I am a registered sex offender. This report is true. I anticipated that this unfortunate piece of my background might surface in the media, I immediately disclosed this history to the police. on the very first day of the investigation into my daughter's disappearance in the interest of openness, truthfulness, and cooperation. I understand the stigma associated with this in my background, and I assure everyone it's not connected in any way to my daughter's disappearance. I ask that you please not shift the focus away from the investigation and from finding Sierra.

I also ask that you please not let my past shape your opinion of Sierra or anyone in our family. Please understand. I am a dad and I want nothing more than to find my missing daughter. My family is working closely as a team with law enforcement and will do so until we can conclude the investigation. We want to thank law enforcement, the media, and the community for all the help and support they have given so far. I mean, you have to give them respect for that. We're coming out and saying that. Yeah, you do. I mean, is that something that anyone wants others to know, especially on a massive scale? And obviously, the answer is no. NBC Bay Area reported that Steve Lamar was convicted of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age.

But there was no date listed for the conviction. So, you know, anyone is going to lose. look at that and think, well, this guy's a POS. Sure. And, you know, I do think it's very smart for him to come out and say, listen, this happened. I'm a registered sex offender. I'm disclosing it right up front because I don't want it to take away from, you know, finding my daughter. Now, obviously, the police are going to look at him. I have to, yeah. Number one, because he's a family member, but even more so, when he, you know, is convicted of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age. At least he had the wherewithal to bring it forward, you know, and tried to make sure the focus remained on his daughter. Well, I took it as he put his daughter before himself.

Now, was there any way this information wasn't going to come out? No, probably not. Somebody was going to find it out pretty easily. but, you know, not an easy thing to come out in front of the media and say, hey, I'm a registered sex offender. But if your goal was to find your daughter and you didn't have anything to do with it, then you bite the bullet and do whatever you got to do. I'm not excusing what he did. But I do think this part was, was kind of smart for him to do. it was reported that investigators were speaking to all known persons convicted of prior sexual assault

related crimes in the area to confirm their whereabouts at the time Sierra went missing. Investigators also interviewed students at Sierra's former and current high school. And I think those are both good things to do. Now, does it absolutely mean if you have a conviction of a prior sexual assault that you're going to do it again. No, it doesn't, but would you not want to check out registered sex offenders, people with convictions of sexual assault? I think it would be irresponsible not to. I agree with you. I think that's a good starting point and an investigation. Yeah, because you've got to start somewhere. Exactly. You know, you start with the family a lot of times and then maybe go on to registered sex offenders,

people with convictions for, you know, those types of crimes. And then I also think it's important to talk to, you know, people in her school. Okay, you're going to want to talk to friends. Somebody might know something. Yeah. She had a boyfriend. She hanging around some certain individuals that maybe seemed a little shifty. Well, and it might be things that people at school know that she wouldn't want to

want her parents to know. Right. You know, kids would tell their friends, their good friends things that they wouldn't tell their parents. I think that's been true for, you know, as long as kids have been kids. Well, for sure, yeah. On March 28, 2012, authorities were notified that foreign DNA found on Sierra's genes had a match. The DNA was linked to 21-year-old Antelan Garcia-Torres, who worked at a Safeway grocery store in Morgan Hill. And I thought that was strange, Gibbs. You know, if you go back to the sheriff's spokesman statements, he said,

the clothing contained no forensic evidence that pointed to a crime or a person of interest. Well, maybe that's one of their things they do to keep things quiet in the case until they get some results back. Yeah, but lying isn't. usually the course of action, right? It's no comment or I can't talk about that. So I don't know, maybe the DNA was found later on. It wasn't exactly clear. Antelan's DNA was already in Cotis after he

was accused of felony battery resulting in serious bodily harm. Authorities put him under 24-7 surveillance while they worked on building a case against him. And I mean, obviously, How can he not be suspect number one, right? His DNA is found on this girl's genes. Yeah, it's not looking good for him. Plus, we know that he's been accused of battery and serious bodily harm in the past. Detectives obtained security footage showing Antolin leaving his home in an RV park, eight miles south of Sierra's bus stop on the morning of March 16, 2012.

He left in his Volkswagen Jetta, about 15 minutes before she went to her bus stop. Okay. You know, to me, just another piece of the puzzle. Is it conclusive? No. But it lines up. It does. Time-wise.

His vehicle was seized and submitted for processing on April 7, 2012. Sierra Lamar's DNA was found on an interior backseat door handle and the outside. side of a pair of work gloves in the vehicle, a strand of her hair was found on a rope in the trunk of the car. Okay. Things are heating up now. Yeah. I mean, you have his DNA on her jeans.

But now you have her DNA and a strand of hair found inside his car. I mean, authorities have to be salivating at this point that they got their guy. But investigators found no evidence that Antelan and Sierra knew each other or had any friends in common. Antelan was arrested at a Safeway store. On May 21st, 2012, he was charged with murder and kidnapping. And that doesn't surprise me at all. You know, just based on the evidence that we've talked about. To me, it seems like it would be enough to get an arrest warrant.

Yes. And to charge him with murder. murder and kidnap. Charging him with something. But get him locked up until you can take him the trial. When giving his alibi, Antelan said that he went fishing on the morning of March 16th. During his drive, he might have turned on to Palm Avenue, where Sierra would have been walking to her bus stop, about seven miles from the RV park where he lived.

And here's the point of every case that interests me greatly. you know, when a suspect is confronted, arrested, and confronted with, you know, some of this evidence, what do they have to say? Well, yeah, I was going fishing. I might have turned on to the street where her bus stop is. Because why? He doesn't know if they're going to have or find surveillance footage of his car. You can't box yourself in with a statement. of, well, I certainly didn't drive down that street. Exactly. Because if the surveillance footage is later found of you on that street, well, that's not going to look good for you. And you have to come up with a story of what you were doing that morning. And a lot of times,

you know, fishing is a hard one to corroborate. It's very hard, I think, sometimes. Especially if you're going out by yourself. Yeah. You're going to a secluded location. There's nobody around. And you can use that morning, afternoon, night, everybody fishes different times of the day. Yeah, absolutely. So it's not the worst one I've heard. The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office

searched lakes and reservoirs around Morgan Hill but found nothing. Hundreds of volunteers also signed up for searches, but Sierra wasn't found. On November 13, 2012, prosecutors filed new charges against Antolin. He was accused of trying to kidnap three women in Safeway parking lots in March of 2019. Two separate incidents occurred on March 19th of that year, and the third occurred on March 26th. None of the victims identified him in a photo lineup. So he was accused, but the victims are like, doesn't look like him. Or they just didn't get a good enough look to be able to pick him out of a lineup.

Yeah. I don't know. On May 19, 2013, Santa Clara County prosecutors sought the death penalty against Antela. His court hearings were postponed multiple times, and it wasn't until February 2014, that he pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and murder. Sounds like they're really trying to delay this trial. You mean the defense? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, from a defense perspective, it, not being a defense attorney or not knowing all that much about it.

But I would think if you feel like they don't have a strong case, you want to get in there as quick as possible, right, before they have time to uncover more. But if they already have quite a bit, then maybe you want to postpone delay as much as you can for you to try to come up with some stuff. I don't know. on March 19, 2015, Sierra's family participated in the last regularly scheduled search for. Steve Lamar told KGO, we've exhausted the inventory of viable search areas. Marlene said, three years.

This is the longest search center open in the U.S. Just because weekly searches are temporarily suspended, we'll never give up the mission to find Sierra Lamar. And, you know, you have to feel a hard break for the family. I mean, it's on the one hand, great that police have a suspect. But it's terrible that, you know, your daughter is still missing. And even at this point in time, you have to presume, right? Most people would that she's likely no longer alive. Right.

But you still want to find her. Sure. Yeah. It's been three years. Yeah, you want to bring her home. You want to, you know, lay her to rest. You want to have a place where you can go to visit her. After more delays, Antelan Garcia-Torez's trial started on January 30th, 2017. So, you know, back to your point, yeah, they did a really good job of drawing this out and delaying it. They really did. The prosecution emphasized that Sierra and Antelan didn't know each other. Sierra had only recently moved to Morgan Hill, where Antelan had lived for years. She sent her final communication to a friend at 7.11 a.m.

Her bus normally arrived around 7.20, but she didn't get on the bus that day. So I think if you're the prosecution, you're thinking something happened in those nine. minutes. Yeah, that's the target window, I think. Around 7 a.m. that same morning, Antelan left his home in an RV park. Just seven miles from Sierra's house. His whereabouts for the next few hours were unaccounted for. Prosecutor David Boyd told the jury,

per KSBW, the defendant is an avid outdoorsman. He had the knowledge and opportunity to put Sierra somewhere she would not be found. The prosecutor noted, that Sierra's clothing was found in her pink bag, which was hidden in a cactus grove behind a shed on Laguna Avenue, dirt on the back pockets of her pants and sweatshirt,

indicated she was dragged on her back by her feet. All right, now we're getting some more answers to our questions. Well, we're getting the prosecution's theories or best educated guesses based on the evidence. DNA from Sierra, Antelan Garcia Torres, and an unknown individual was found on the pants. Strands of Sierra's hair were found on a rope inside Antelan's truck. Carbid fibers from the floor mats were found on her clothing. Sierra's DNA was also found on an armrest in his vehicle.

So, you know, as it relates to DNA, this is pretty strong stuff. You have the DNA in her pants, her hair in his car on a rope in his trunk, her DNA found on an armrest in his vehicle. And then, you know, carpet fibers found on her clothing. Yeah, I mean, if you're the prosecutor, you have to feel pretty good about all this. Well, it's pretty hard, I think, from a defense standpoint to say, well, she wasn't inside the vehicle. That's pretty hard to argue. It is. Based on this amount of evidence.

Finally, Antolin purchased a gallon of bleach with his Safeway club cart, three days before Sierra went missing, indicating he took steps to cover his tracks. Now, a lot of people buy bleach all the time, right? It's used for all kinds of different things. It is. Can it also be used to cover up a crime scene? Yeah, we've seen it. It can be.

Is it smart to buy it, you know, where you work using a Safeway club card that is extremely trackable? I would say no. No. Go to another store. Pay cash. That's like the people who are always tripped up by their, their massive Home Depot Lowe's trips. Yeah. I've got tarps, lie, cement.

Shovel. I paid for it with my credit card. On camera. And I'm on camera. I don't know how they figured it out. And it just happens to be the day or the day after, you know, someone went missing. Yeah. The defense argued that Sierra was a runaway.

They planned to introduce a notebook containing a letter stating her plans to leave. During opening statements, defense attorney Alfonso Lopez argued that sperm found on Sierra's genes did not belong to Antony. Lopez explained that the initial test came back inconclusive. In a second more specific test that only looks for male DNA, excluded antelan as the source. Lopez argued that prosecutors did not have gold standard DNA in their case, which he defined as a large sample with a visible stain, a single source and no complex mixtures. Lopez said about the hair found on the rope, that hair was not on that rope. When it was taken into evidence, this rope was sitting in evidence for four months before they found the hair. Okay, so obviously his job is to poke holes, right, in the prosecution's case and specifically poke holes in their evidence.

And he's trying to do exactly that, right? He's trying to point out what the defense team. considers some flaws in the evidence. Yeah. Now, whether the thing about the hair is true or not, that's up for debate. But, you know, what's the defense's main job? It's to sow seeds of doubt. The defense accused investigators of cross-contaminating evidence,

claiming deputies didn't follow proper protocol when collecting the clothing. Lopez also explained that Antelan purchased the bleach for his household chores, and he purchased a turkey baster for illegal manufacturing of cannabis oil. Okay. I didn't know that was involved. Turkey baster. Turkey basters can be used for a lot of things.

I'll take your word for that. But this is sometimes a classic defense tactic, right? The household chores, all right, like I said, a lot of people use bleach for that. but then do you throw in something that is illegal? It's not murder, but it's illegal to try to muddy the water a little bit. I mean, it's not a bad tactic, really. When you think about it, it's like, he's not a great guy.

Yeah, he did some things he shouldn't have done, but he didn't commit murder. Earlier, the prosecution said glass, beads, and dirt were found on Sierra's clothes, which suggested she was dragged. According to SFGate, when asphalt is newly laid down, reflective beads are placed to illuminate the road at night. I did not know that.

Oh, really? Uh-uh. Yeah, that's basically in road resurfacing 101. Oh, is it? Yeah. Did you read that in road resurfacing for dummies? Actually, anything I read is for dummies. For dummies.

I know you have that subscription. they just send you a new one every month. It's awesome. Something, something for dummies. Something, something for dummies. It's a quick read. Now, the defense argued that there were no drag marks on Sierra's clothing. Lopez also argued that if Sierra had been in the trunk of Antelan's car, it's probable

that glass beads would have been found in the vehicle. Lopez said, those glass beads are going to prove to you. Mr. Garcia Torres is innocent. Not a single glass bead is in that car. All right. I mean, it's, it's not a bad argument, right? Because you take the prosecution's argument that these glass beads proved that she was dragged. And now the defense is turning it around and saying, well, then why were no glass beads found in the trunk of his car? It's because she wasn't there. You know, the direction that the defense is going in, I like it. They're making some good points. Yeah. I think. the defense attorneys is doing his job. The defense criticized investigators for not pursuing all

leads, including a brown car that was seen near the spot where Sierra may have disappeared. The defense also pointed out that none of the three women, Antelan was accused of kidnapping, could identify him in a photo line. Was that because significant time has passed from the time that they showed them the picture? They don't really talk about that. But I, I do recall the dates being earlier. Earlier. Yeah. Or was it because it was dark?

He was, you know, covered up a lot. You know, we don't know. Exactly. They just didn't get a good look at him. The deputies who processed critical evidence were questioned at trial. The defense accused both deputies and the county crime lab of contaminating DNA evidence. The deputy who logs here's phone explained. that the device was wet and muddy.

He took it apart and dried it with a fan to preserve it. The deputy also explained that he changed his gloves. Each time, he touched the contents of the bag that contained her clothing. Marlene Lamar testified that she hugged Sierra and they said they loved each other as she left for work on March 16, 2012. She texted Sierra twice that day, reminding her to clean the bathtub. and to ask if she was visiting a friend after school. Sierra didn't answer her texts or calls.

In court, Marlene was shown the clothing and other items found in the bag and confirmed they were her daughters. Tough, right, for a mother to have to take the stand and, you know, recount some of this stuff, especially the last thing you said to your daughter, stuff like that. that just would be so tough. Not going to be an easy day. Sierra's sister Danielle confirmed she was totally dependent on her parents and also wouldn't abandon her friends.

So I think she's trying to get into the area of, you know, Sarah was not a person who was going to run away. Right. A woman named Annette Walters testified about almost being kidnapped on March 19, 2009. Around 11 p.m. She got into her vehicle after,

picking up groceries at the Safeway Store on Tenet Avenue and Morgan Hill, 17-year-old Antolin was employed there at the time. Moments after she got into her car, the kidnapper casually got into the backseat. He punched her and shocked her with a stun gun. The responding officer dusted the car for prints, but did not find anything usable. A stun gun gun was found in the backseat of her vehicle and a 9-volt duracel batter contained Antelan's thumbprint. Annette testified that she never saw the kidnapper's face and did not identify Antelan in a photo lineup. So I think that lends, you know, more information as to why she couldn't, right?

He's in the back seat. He punches her. He uses a stun gun on her. not a great situation to get a good view of him. At that point, she's probably out. And my thought is, he probably had gloves on. But what he didn't think about was, you know, putting this 9-volt battery inside the stun gun earlier

and leaving a print behind. One of those stupid mistakes criminals can make sometimes. Yeah, because you can't think of everything. It's hard to, anyway. The defense argued that with his job as a clerk at Safeway, Antolin had a legitimate reason to have handled a battery if the pack had been open before the store resold it. I mean, they're just sprinkling enough doubt.

But what else can they do? Right. I mean, this is damning stuff. It happens at the Safeway. He works at the Safeway. His fingerprint is on the battery. Who is buying repackaged batteries? Somebody that doesn't want to spend full price, you know.

Get a little bit off of it, I guess. It's kind of cheap. Oh, wait. Mike Gibson? Yes. But that's a hard thing to explain. You got to come up with something. To me, that's a little far-fetched, but it is something.

But if it puts any doubt in anybody's head, it's working. As we mentioned, the defense tried to portray Sierra as a runaway by showing she was unhappy about the recent move from Fremont to Morgan Hill, Sierra's best friend Shanna formed, testified that Sierra was attached to her phone. They texted each other often, but had no contact after she went missing. Shanna did confirm that Sierra was angry about the move.

Sierra was excited to attend a party in Fremont. On the night she disappeared, and marijuana would be available at the party. Shanna testified that Sierra used to return to Fremont to party and pop pills per KRON4. Look, a teen can be unhappy moving from one town to another town. Leaving their friends behind. Sure.

Yeah. But just because they're unhappy doesn't mean they're going to run away. No, I would agree with you 100%. Also, you know, Sierra being attached to her phone doesn't surprise me at all, right? I said earlier. What 15-year-old is not? Exactly. It's their world now. So is a 15-year-old likely to throw their phone out the window voluntarily? No. I don't think so. Most of them are not. Sierra's classmate Alejandra Kendrick testified that they plan to go to the movies on March 16th, and she had never heard Sierra mention Antelan Garcia Torres.

The jury also heard that a runaway note was found in Sierra, Spanish notebook. Shortly after she disappeared, a student turned the notebook into school administrators. The note said, I hate my life. Whoever sees this, I will be in San Francisco by 31612. The prosecution dismissed the note as a prank. Sierra's Spanish teacher testified that she didn't monitor which students took which notebooks from the stack kept in class. this supported prosecutor's theory that other students could have gotten hold of the notebook. It's pretty possible there. It's possible, but like we always say, it's a pretty crappy thing to do, right? You think you think that's a prank?

Yeah. Think you're being funny, but this is not something to joke about. No, not at all. The teacher said she hired us up on March 19th, the first school day following Sierra's disappearance. Sierra's case was big news among the students. A handwriting analyst also testified that Sierra probably did not write the note. So it does sound like, you know, based on everything, this could have been another student playing what they thought was a prank.

The prosecution and the defense called on Detective Doug Kubick, a digital evidence forensic examiner. Cubic examined Sierra's email, social media, and her final activity on her laptop. Sierra posted a tweet at 6.20 a.m. on the morning of March 16th. She logged on to the website Tumblr at 6.45 a.m. and took selfies with the photo booth app on her laptop at 7.12. When asked by the defense, Kubik confirmed that Sierra had deleted some emails. The prosecutor pointed out that a prolific Twitter, like Sierra, would have had many social media notifications, which people typically delete. Previously, prosecutor showed the jury footage of

Antelan leaving his RV park. He previously said he left the RV park to go to the bank and buy gas at a gas station three miles north of his home. Cubic was unable to retrieve footage from this gas station or an RV park one mile north of Sierra's house because both businesses, security cameras record over their footage every 10 days. I remember when you used to work on the gas station, you would say how you guys recorded over tapes and just recycled them, you know, again and again. So I'm not too surprised here. No, I'm not either.

Now, when I was doing that, it was in the late 90s. this is quite a bit later, but if they were still using tapes, you know, what are you going to do? Have a tape for every single day? No, you're going to have seven, 10 tapes or whatever and you're just going to record over. Yeah.

Because the thought is if there was something that someone needed, they would come within that period of time, you would think, right? That's true. Yeah. The majority of the time. The majority of the time. The detective said,

he didn't know why the gas station footage would have been important to the investigation. He also said the footage he did obtain from the other RV part would have been unusable because it was too poor to identify motorists. During closing arguments, the prosecution reiterated that it was unreasonable to think Sierra would run away without telling her friends or using social media. She didn't have a secret lie. On May 9th, 2017, after two days of deliberation, Antelan Garcia Torres was found guilty of first-degree murder and the attempted kidnappings of the three women in 2009. And they got them for that too.

The penalty phase started on May 16. Jurors were to decide whether they would recommend the death penalty or life in prison. Antelan's family served as character witnesses. for example, his mother, Laura, testified that she regularly brought his two daughters to visit him in jail, and they looked forward to their weekly phone calls with him. Antelan's mother, sister, and cousins testified about experiencing poverty, abuse, incest, neglect, loss, incarceration, and addiction. Antelan's sister Lucera Garcia testified that they spent a lot of time on their own. Their father who's in prison was an alcoholic and often hit their mother in front of them.

Their father also molested her from age 5 to 15. That is horrible. It is horrible. And it sounds like the kids all had a pretty shitty childhood. Yeah, it does. But you know what? A lot of people have bad childhoods. It's true.

It doesn't mean that they all go on to kidnap and murder. Mercury News reported that Antelan's father, Gennaro Garcia Fernandez, was convicted of 17 counts of child molestation in September 2012. During his trial, his ex-wife Laura Torres, testified that he hit her often. According to one of Antelan's sisters, the victim tried to keep Fernandez out of her bedroom by blocking the entryway with Bureau drawers. The prosecutor in that case noted that Fernandez eventually apologized, but also claimed the victim wanted and liked the sexual abuse. Okay. This guy is a monster.

Yeah. Right? His dad. Antolin's dad. 17 counts of child molestation. And then you have, you know, one of Antelan's sisters trying to keep her dad out, you know, by putting some drawers in front of the door, and him later saying, you know, I'm sorry I did that, but she wanted and liked the sexual abuse. Yeah, he's a real POS. Yeah, that's just a just terrible.

The jury heard that Antelan grew up in a shack in the middle of strawberry fields in San Martin. His parents picked fruit there. Laura Torres testified about her exposure to pesticide. When she worked in the fields while pregnant with antelan, toxicologist Dr. Andres Lugo testified that research shows farm workers bring chemical residue home on their clothing and pregnant women and children are at risk. So, you know, his conviction has been decided. But during the penalty phase, this is where stuff like this is going to come in, right? His background.

He had a crappy life. What effect is it going to have? have on the jury when it comes to life versus death. That's what you're hoping for as the defense, right? That they're going to feel bad enough for them that they don't give him the death penalty phase. Prosecutor David Boyd urged the jury to sentence Antelan to death. Boyd said about the murder of Sierra Lamar, he could have let her go.

He could have relied on anonymity. He made that choice, the next choice. he could have relied on threats to keep her quiet. At each and every stage, where the defendant could have stopped, he chose not to. Boyd addressed the defense's mitigating factors, noting that Antelan was not aware of the years of sexual abuse his father inflicted on his relatives. While his mother, Laura, testified that her ex-husband was physically and emotionally abusive towards her, no evidence was presented to suggest antelan was abused. Although a toxicologist testified that antelan was exposed to pesticides,

there was no evidence he suffered harmful effects. And this is just a back and forth, right? Sure it is. As it is in every trial, now we're at the sentencing phase here, but you're still going to have arguments on both sides. He had a bad childhood. The prosecution comes back and says, okay, he did.

But there was no evidence that he was abused. There's no evidence that he knew his relatives were being abused. True. It's just a back and forth. On June 5th, 2017, the jury recommended a sentence of life in prison. On December 12th of that year, Antolin was formally sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. So it sounds like the defense got the sentence. the jury to soften up a little bit.

Yeah, on the life in prison versus the death sins. Now, for me, when we talk about California, I don't see where it matters. California has not put anyone to death in a very long time. So even if someone gets the death sins, the likelihood that it's ever going to be carried out, I think it's pretty minimal in a state like California. Now, if you get in Florida or Texas, that's a different story. You're sweating a little bit more there. Yeah.

The defense team made a last-ditch effort to request a new trial by questioning the credibility and truthfulness of the lead investigator. They alleged he mishandled evidence in another case. The judge ruled that the outcome would not have been different if the witness were impeached because of other evidence, including Antelan and Sierra's DNA, in the same areas together could have led to a similar conviction. And we've seen this before, right? Things that come up after a trial is concluded, maybe an error made by the prosecution, maybe a witness who is trying to be impeached.

But the judge makes the decision that, okay, yeah, let's say it's true. It would not have changed the outcome of the trial. therefore I'm not granting a retrial. There you go. But you can't blame the defense for trial. ABC 7 reported that during trial, the jury saw a video where Antolin explained to investigators how his DNA may have ended up on Sarah's clothing.

He said, I like masturbating. So, ha, that's it. Okay. How to get there? I don't know. I like masturbating. I guess that's how it got there. I like turtles.

What does that have to do with anything? Antelan explained that he kept tissue in his car for this purpose. And his DNA would have been carried on the tissue wherever he disposed of it. Outside, ABC 7 reported that not only was Sierra's clothing covered in dirt stains, it had a strong odor of human urine. The prosecutor pointed out that prior to Antelan's statement, Investigators never raised the subject of anything sexual. But I have to go back to his explanation.

He kept the tissue in his car in case what? The mood broke out for him to masturbate. And then he's saying, eventually I would throw it out the window and what? It just happened to land on this young girl's jeans. Sounds like what he's trying to say. I mean, you know, give me a break, man. You know, some things are valiant efforts. Some things just don't make any sense.

Yeah, that's a pretty good stretch there. At sentencing, the judge pinpointed his admission as to why she agreed with the prosecution's request. For Antelan to register as a sex offender, she expressed her belief that he would reoffend if given the opportunity. In 2020, KRON4 reporter Amy Larson sent a letter to Antelan. He responded in December, which was the first time he ever responded to a reporter. Larson asked four questions in her letter, but he only answered one, which was, do you still maintain your innocence? He replied, yes, Amy, I hold fast to my innocence, but added, I'm not going to talk about

the case. Antelan wrote, I have no trust in the news. There's a lot of selective reporting, which paints a picture not always true. I too believe that every person has a right to have their voice heard, but unfortunately those days are long gone. As to your questions, some if answered, may not sit well with others. I don't wish to start shit with others. I'm just going to do my time.

Even though your handwriting made me laugh, it's more than other people. people have done. I wonder if his pages were sticky. I don't know, but to be honest with you, I didn't understand a lot of that. You know, I somehow think we're all dumber having just heard that because it just didn't make a lot of sense. But as to Larson's unanswered questions, they were, what has life been like for you living in prison since your sentencing?

your sisters were very supportive of you. Are there any other family or friends who visit you? If you ever had a chance of freedom again, what would you do with your life? And those seem like very kind of benign questions to answer. Yeah, maybe he just felt like focusing on the one question and not wasting his energy on the other ones. In 22, Steve Lamar told KNTV that the family

now wanted to focus on the happy times they had with Sierra, Steve said, I'm always hoping that one day we'll find her. Of course, to be able to get that closure would be good. As of 2025, Sierra Lamar's remains have not been found. And that's, you know, just another tragic part of this case. Tragic anytime someone loses their life. Tragic that a 15-year-old girl lost hers. And what I can only imagine was a very horrifying experience. Whether she was dragged into the car,

whether he pulled up alongside her and offered her a ride and then attacked her afterwards. However, it happened. It had to be extremely horrifying from her. And I think that's evidence by the urine staining on her clothes. Yeah.

I think that speaks volumes to what happened inside that vehicle. But I really feel for the family in this case, you know, as we always do, but in this one even more so, because they still haven't found her remains. They got a conviction. Yeah. Which is a good thing. It is. But you can tell from her dad's comments, they need to find her.

They need to lay her to rest. They need to have, you know, a headstone. They need to have a place where they can go visit her. They just want to know. Yeah. I mean, and I don't think they'll ever give up on trying to find her. Unfortunately, that becomes tougher and tougher. Yeah.

As time passes. But that's it for our episode on Antelan Garcia Torres. We got voicemail Gibbs. You want to check that out? Let's hear it. Hey, this is Andy. I'm calling from Fort Worth, Texas area. I come across a podcast a couple weeks ago. I'm starting from the beginning. I just finished sons of Sam. And I've got two things after listening to it. Givie, if you think you make a sandwich by putting bread, cheese, then mustard, you're the psycho.

It's bread, mustard, then cheese. And second, Givie, my cable is bigger than yours. Have a good day. Love it. Can't wait until I catch up until I have time. Deuce. Well, I think somebody's got K-bar envy. I think so. Also, who in the hell eats a sandwich made of bread, cheese, and mustard? Is there no meat on this sandwich? That does not sound like a very appealing sandwich to me. I'm still stuck on the fact that he thinks he's got a bigger K-bar than mine. He probably doesn't know how many you have. and the range of sizes.

Yeah. You have one for every occasion. Oh, that's the K bars we're talking about. Oh, yeah. You have a formal, you know, dressed up K bar.

Yes. Oh, man, you and your K bars. I love my K bar, the one that you bought for me. Yeah. And still shocked that you bought it for me.

Yeah. Because that means you literally had to open the wallet. I know. Spend a little, money and I'm sure that you know it was tough for you. It wasn't easy but I very much appreciate it. All right buddy, that is it for another episode of true crime all the time. So for Mike and get me, stay safe and keep your own time ticking.