A man wanted in a 1991 Massachusetts killing was found on a shrimp farm in Guatemala. He tried to flee by jumping into the water.
A man wanted in connection with a 1991 stabbing death during a fight in Massachusetts has been found working on a shrimp farm in Guatemala, state police said. Authorities said that the suspect tried to get away by jumping into the water but was captured.
Mario Garcia was found living under an alias, operating the farm in Iztapa, police said in a news release Wednesday.
FUGITIVE WANTED FOR 1991 ATTLEBORO HOMICIDE CAPTURED IN GUATEMALA A multi-agency investigation that spanned more than...
Posted by Massachusetts State Police on Wednesday, December 14, 2022
"We don't forget, we are persistent, and we never cease in our efforts to secure justice for victims," Massachusetts State Police Colonel Christopher S. Mason said. "The fact that we were able to reach into Guatemala to hold accountable someone who committed a homicide in Massachusetts is a result of both tenacious police work and the value of our relationships with local, federal and international partners."
Ismael Recinos-Garcia was stabbed on Nov. 16, 1991, in Attleboro.
Police issued an arrest warrant for Mario Garcia, then 19. He fled and could not be found.
In 2014, the state police's Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section developed information that Garcia had likely fled to a remote area of his native Guatemala. By 2021, he had been added to the state police's Most Wanted Fugitives list.
Earlier this year, a detective who had worked on the investigation developed information that Garcia might be working on the shrimp farm.
The information was forwarded to the U.S. Marshals Service, which worked with the Operations for Central America and the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service Overseas Criminal Investigations Unit in Guatemala. The Department of State and the Guatemalan Federal Police Force also worked on finding him.
Police said Garcia, now 50, "attempted to evade capture by jumping into a body of water" at the shrimp farm, but was apprehended and placed into custody.
Guatemalan authorities are coordinating Garcia's extradition to the United States to face prosecution in Massachusetts' Bristol County. It wasn't immediately known if he had a lawyer.
"We are glad that the victim, Ismael Recinos-Garcia, will finally have justice be brought forth for this senseless murder," Attleboro Police Chief Kyle P. Heagney said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones."