Dr. William Hunter, the man who found his son and housekeeper dead inside his Dundee home in 2008, comes back to the stand to tell the jury about incidents that led to the termination of Anthony Garcia from the Creighton Pathology Department in 2001.
It’s the 7th day of trial in the case against Garcia in Douglas County District Court. Garcia is charged with the murders of Thomas Hunter and Shirlee Sherman in 2008 and Dr. Roger and Mary Brumback in 2013 as revenge for being fired from Creighton.
Dr. Hunter testified to numerous problems Garcia had with Dr. Chhanda Bewtra including unprofessional conduct, and a disrespectful attitude.
But Dr. Hunter indicated two incidents were the final straws including when a funeral director complained a body that Garcia did an autopsy on was left facedown, which “markedly distorted the face.” The other was when Garcia reportedly called another resident’s wife with an urgent message while he took an important test.
May 22nd 2001, Dr. Hunter and Dr. Brumback signed his termination letter.
“I felt that maybe in a different environment he might recover from all the problems here at Creighton,” Dr. Hunter explained. “The actions he did here were unforgivable, it was a terrible thing.”
Dr. Hunter then wrote a recommendation for Garcia which helped him get residency almost immediately at the University of Illinois-Chicago, the defense argued.
Bob Motta Jr. also asked Dr. Hunter about Michael Belenky, another former resident, who was identified as a person of interest in the 2008 Dundee murder.
“When Thomas was killed Belenky was at the coroner’s office (he worked at in Pennsylvania) at the time,” Dr. Hunter explained.
Motta Jr. said Belenky was only on the schedule at his Pennsylvania coroner’s office, but didn’t document that he did the scheduled work.
Prosecutors pointed out that Dr. Hunter wrote the referral reviews in 2008, and that Dr. Brumback wrote the referral reviews in 2012. Referral reviews are inquired by other medical colleges and when trying to get a medical license to provide history of employment.
Dr. Anita Kablinger, a former Program Director at LSU Shreveport, testified that Garcia was terminated from the residency program when they learned that Garcia hadn't told them about his firing from Creighton. That was days before Thomas Hunter and Shirlee Sherman were murdered.
Attorneys argued whether Garcia did or didn't know that Dr. Hunter made LSU aware of his Creighton situation.
An administrator from Louisiana Motor Vehicles testified that Garcia's Silver Honda CRV was registered there in 2008, and that he had a Louisiana pelican license plate that had florescent colors on it.
The jury also heard from the arresting Illinois State Trooper when Garcia was taken into custody in 2013 in Illinois, and the Omaha Wing Stop owner where Garcia ate at around the time the Brumbacks were murdered.
Finally on Wednesday, OPD Senior Crime Technician Laura Casey testified about analyzing 4 latent prints found at the Dundee murder scene and 1 latent print found in the Brumback home.
Casey said that none of the prints matched the Hunters, Sherman, people of interest in the case, or Anthony Garcia. She also testified that Belenky was not one of the people the prints were compared to.
The trial will continue Thursday morning.
