Witnesses differ on murder victim's reasons for leaving husband

EDINBURG - Yrazema Placencia had grown increasingly unhappy with her life's prospects in the months before her husband killed her, witnesses in his murder trial testified Monday.

But the reasons the 25-year-old Alton woman decided to finally cut ties with the man she had lived with for more than a decade differed with who was telling the story.

Daniel Garcia, 32, stands accused of stabbing Placencia to death 58 times on Aug. 13, 2007, on the front lawn of their Alton home.

During the trial's fourth day Monday, jurors heard from Placencia's boss at the Wal-Mart in Palmhurst. He had started a romantic relationship with her shortly before her death, he said.

He testified that Placencia feared what Garcia would do if she tried to leave him, but that her common-law marriage was effectively over before he started dating her.

Placencia had moved out of Garcia's house, and her boss was planning on asking her to permanently move in with him, he said.

"She told me they were separated," said the boss, Fernando Lozano. "Basically, there was no relationship anymore."

But Placencia's older sister told jurors that even though she knew of her sibling's unhappiness with Garcia, she had never heard her say she feared her husband.

Placencia was more concerned with how she would care for her children with a low-paying job and no high school diploma, the sister said.

"She didn't want to leave because of the kids," said Sovida Placencia, 27.

While Garcia does not deny that he killed Yrazema Placencia, his attorney, Fernando Mancias, has maintained throughout the trial that his client snapped after she told him she was leaving and filing for custody of their two young children.

When deciding a murder sentence, state law allows juries to make a distinction between premeditated killings and those in the heat of the moment. If convicted, Garcia could face punishment ranging from probation to life in prison.

His trial is expected to resume today.

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