Nevada man convicted of murder of 81-year-old Newport Beach man in 2015

A Carson City man was convicted of murder Wednesday in a Newport Beach case that dates back to 2015.

Jurors ruled that Anthony Thomas Garcia, 62, was guilty of first-degree murder, but denied the enhancement charge that alleges Garcia murdered Newport Beach resident Abelardo “Abby” Estacion for financial gain. Garcia will be sentenced on April 28.

This is the second trial held for Garcia in the Estacion murder case, with the first being declared a mistrial by Orange County Superior Court Judge Sheila Hanson when the jury deadlocked over Garcia’s guilt.

He faces 25 years to life with the possibility of parole.

Investigators in the case said that early in the morning on April 11, 2015, someone snuck into Estacion’s home on 16th Street and killed Estacion in his bedroom while his live-in caretaker slept upstairs. His body was discovered in his bed later that day when his caretaker came downstairs to make breakfast.

An autopsy indicated pinpoints of blood in his eyes and pooling blood and a broken bone in his neck. His nose, lips and left eye were swollen and he had what appeared to be defensive wounds on his arms, according to police. Garcia was arrested in July 2016.

Prosecutors alleged that the murder was an attempt to gain control over the estate of the victim’s dying wife, who at the time was diagnosed with dementia and terminal cancer.

“The entire prosecution team worked tirelessly to ensure the family of Abby Lopez received justice and I could not be prouder of the work they did,” said Orange County District Atty. Todd Spitzer in a statement released on the matter Thursday. “This is a tragic case of how a family squabble over money and property crossed the line into murder.

“I want to thank the jurors for their careful consideration of the evidence and returning a guilty verdict that will keep a coldblooded killer behind bars for a very long time,” Spitzer said.

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