ATTLEBORO, Mass. (WPRI) — After more than three decades, authorities have apprehended one of Massachusetts’ most wanted fugitives.
Mario Garcia, 50, was found Wednesday living under an alias and operating a shrimp farm in Guatemala, according to Massachusetts State Police.
Police said Garcia attempted to evade capture by jumping into the water at the shrimp farm but was quickly captured.
Garcia is charged with murder in the stabbing death of Ismael Recinos-Garcia in November 1991 during a fight in Attleboro.
Investigators first received word in 2014 that Garcia may have fled to a remote location in his native Guatemala.
Garcia was added to the state’s most wanted list of fugitives last year, but it wasn’t until earlier this year that investigators learned he had been living on a shrimp farm in Iztapa, Guatemala.
“We don’t forget. We are persistent, and we never cease in our efforts to secure justice for victims,” Massachusetts State Police Colonel Christopher 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.”
Police said Guatemalan authorities are facilitating Garcia’s extradition to the United States, where he will eventually be prosecuted on murder charges in Recinos-Garcia’s death.
There is also a second arrest warrant for an assault and battery charge against Garcia in an unrelated incident in Attleboro as well, police said.