Witnesses describe chaotic crime scene

EDINBURG — With his wife crumpled in a bloody heap before him and armed officers aiming at his head, Daniel Garcia pleaded with police to kill him, his brother testified Thursday.

Enrique Garcia, 30, of Edinburg, recounted the chaotic scene he discovered Aug. 13, 2007, moments after finding his sister-in-law fatally stabbed and his brother turning the knife on himself.

"He was stabbing himself a lot of times," he said. "He was bleeding - bleeding a lot."

Enrique Garcia's testimony came on the second day of his brother's murder trial, in which witnesses painted the defendant as both a loving father and a dour loner.

Prosecutors allege Daniel Garcia, 32, stabbed 25-year-old Yrazema Placencia 58 times on the front lawn of their Alton home after she told him she was leaving him and filing for custody of their two young children.

And while Daniel Garcia doesn't deny he killed Placencia, his attorney - Fernando Mancias - maintains that his client snapped after hearing of his wife's intentions.

State law allows juries to make a distinction between premeditated killings and those done in the heat of the moment when deciding a murder sentence.

During Thursday's proceedings, both Enrique Garcia and his wife, Lorena, told jurors that they arrived at the family home near the intersection of Glasscock and Mile 5 Road North shortly after the stabbing began. They found Daniel Garcia covered in blood and Placencia on the ground beside him.

"I got my phone and dialed 9-1-1," the younger Garcia brother testified. "But I couldn't speak. I couldn't talk. I gave the phone to my wife."

Both testified that they were puzzled as to what could have led Daniel Garcia to take such drastic action.

Although Placencia had left her husband several times in the past, he had always welcomed her back, they said. And he had never threatened or used physical violence against her or the children.

"He loves them," he said. "He's a good father."

But during Placencia's latest separation from her husband, their situation seemed to veer off its usual track, Lorena Garcia said.

Placencia had started a job at Wal-Mart and - unbeknownst to her family - a new relationship with her boss. And other signs of change were evident.

She started dressing up and wearing make-up for work, Lorena Garcia told jurors. Placencia also began exercising when she never had before.

This sudden transformation made Daniel Garcia suspicious, the younger Garcia brother and his wife said. Still, neither considered Daniel Garcia a violent person until Aug. 13.

As he stood on his family's front lawn torn between tending to his sister-in-law and his brother, Enrique Garcia recalled one of the last things his brother said to him before his arrest.

"He said, ‘I told her not to cheat on me,'" Enrique Garcia said.

Daniel Garcia's trial is expected to resume Friday. If convicted, his sentence could range from probation to life in prison.

Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.