Guatemalan man convicted in Fall River Superior Court of First-Degree Murder

Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn, III, has announced the First-Degree Murder conviction of a Guatemalan man, after a jury trial in the Fall River Superior Court.  Jurors returned the guilty verdict late this morning. 

On November 16, 1991, Attleboro Police responded to the intersection of Bank and Dean Streets where they located Ismael Jesus Recinos Garcia, 28 years old, of 60/62 Dean Street. He was suffering from a single stab wound to the chest.  The victim was pronounced deceased a short time later.  Police located the murder weapon, which was determined to be a butcher’s knife, the following morning three houses south of the crime scene. The Defendant, Mario Garcia, who was 19 years old at the time, was identified by several witnesses as the suspect.  Police obtained an arrest warrant charging the defendant with Murder.   However, Garcia fled the Commonwealth and eventually the country shortly after the murder. He was located in December 2022, after a lengthy investigation by the Massachusetts State Police, on a shrimp farm in Guatemala. Garcia was arrested and extradited back to the United States for trial on the murder charge. 

“I like to commend the prosecution team for their efforts in the investigation and prosecution of this case.  I especially would like to acknowledge the investigative effort of Massachusetts State Trooper Curt Cinelli who was instrumental in the apprehension of the defendant in Guatemala.  Without his efforts a conviction would not be possible”, District Attorney Tom Quinn said.

Sentencing in this matter has been scheduled for December 5, 2025.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Shawn Guilderson and Patrick Driscoll.