Garcia death sentence comes ten years after first of four Omaha murders

Sept. 14, 2018, 9:43 a.m. ·

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Anthony Garcia was sentenced to death for the murders of four people on Friday afternoon in Douglas County District Court.


A three judge panel issued the order finding Garcia in “an especially depraved frame of mind” and acting with premeditation when he carried out two sets of murders five years apart. The judges determined Garcia was mentally capable of understanding the nature of the crime. A sentence of death in for these murders was deemed reasonable and comparable to other death penalty cases in recent Nebraska history.

In 2008 Garcia entered the Omaha home of Drs. William and Claire Hunter, where he murdered their 11-year-old son, Thomas, and their housekeeper, Shirlee Sherman. In 2013, Garcia murdered Dr. Roger Brumback and his wife, Mary.

Evidence presented at trial indicated Garcia took revenge on members of the staff at Creighton University Medical Center. He felt they were responsible for his stunted career in medicine.

Speaking in court on behalf of the victims were four family members. Each addressed, in different ways, the pain of having the murder investigation, trial, and sentencing process stretch out over ten years.

The mother of Tom, Dr. Claire Hunter, speaking in a clear, steady voice, said a “child of 11 years should never have to lose his life in a fit of anger."

Bradley Waite, Shirlee Sherman’s brother, told the court “we’ll get a sigh of relief upon his death. The sooner the better.”

Prior to the hearing guards transported Garcia, wearing a yellow jail jumpsuit, into the courtroom in a wheelchair. His eyes remained closed while his chin rested on his chest. At random times during the hearing he would shift positions. It was the same manner in which he presented himself throughout the three-day hearing in June when evidence was heard to determine his punishment. Previously prosecutors called his sleep-like posture an act. The state-appointed defense team said they were unsure, in his current state, if their client was competent to be sentenced.

As the sentencing order was read Garcia had no reaction; his eyes remaining closed. Spectators in the full courtroom remained silent throughout.

After court was dismissed, Garcia was immediately turned over to the state of Nebraska and the Department of Correctional Services. He was transported to Lincoln where he will be evaluated to determine where he should be housed.

Midway through the hearing, presiding Judge Gary Randall stunned the audience by calling a sudden recess. He had been showing increasing signs of discomfort as he read the lengthy sentencing order. Some had wondered if he was getting emotional, but the judge explained it was not “nervousness” but physical pain causing his halting delivery. Randall left the courtroom limping and was later removed by stretcher from the Douglas County Courthouse. Randall reportedly recently suffered from an infection causing severe back pain.

When court reconvened, the reading of the court order and pronouncement of the sentence was announced by Gage County District Judge Rich Schriener, another member of the three-judge panel. Judge Randall had already signed the sentencing order prior to the start of the hearing. Judge Schreiner held the paperwork up for the courtroom audience as if to underscore all legal procedures had been followed prior to the medical emergency.

Garcia was immediately transferred to the Nebraska State Penitentiary after spending years in the Douglas County Correctional Center. Twelve men now await the death penalty in Nebraska.