Suspect who fled U.S. and evaded capture for 30 years convicted in Attleboro murder
FALL RIVER, Mass. (WLNE) — A murder suspect who fled Massachusetts and the country after a fatal 1991 stabbing incident was convicted Friday after a trial at Fall River Superior Court.
According to the office of Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn, III, Mario Rene Garcia Rivera, of Guatemala, was convicted of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a 28-year-old Attleboro man nearly 35 years ago.
The incident occurred on November 16, 1991 when Attleboro police were called to Bank and Dean Streets, locating Ismael Jesus Recinos Garcia.
Garcia was suffering from a single stab wound to the chest and died shortly after police arrived.
The murder weapon, a butcher’s knife, was located three houses away from the crime scene the next morning.
Mario Garcia, 19 at the time, was identified as the suspect by multiple witnesses.
Attleboro police obtained an arrest warrant for Garcia, but he already fled the country.
Garcia was located in December of 2022 on a shrimp farm in Guatemala after a long investigation by Massachusetts State Police.
He was arrested and extradited to the United States to stand trial in Rivera’s murder.
He will be sentenced on December 5.
