Sacto 9-1-1

Garcia, denying guilt, gets 59 years to life in Wilson killing

By Art Campos
Bee Staff Writer

Maintaining his innocence before a judge, Mario Flavio Garcia of Auburn was sentenced Thursday to 59 years to life in state prison for the first-degree murder of Christie Wilson.

"I did not kill Christie Wilson," Garcia told Placer Superior Court Judge Larry D. Gaddis. "You have the wrong person here before you. I will say it until the day I die."

As Garcia, 54, made a statement to the court, Wilson's stepfather, Patrick Boyd, a sergeant with the San Jose Police Department, stood up in the courtroom and turned his back.

Later, Boyd said Garcia was not remorseful and that he has continued to lie about not killing Wilson. "I turned my back on him, like the rest of society should turn their backs on him," Boyd said.

Garcia's sentencing came one day after Wilson would have turned 29.

The Sacramento woman was 27 when she disappeared from the Thunder Valley Casino near Lincoln on Oct. 5, 2005. Casino cameras showed Garcia and Wilson gambling together the night of Oct. 4, 2005. They also showed them walking together toward the parking lot at 1:13 a.m. Oct. 5. She hasn't been seen since.

Placer County sheriff's detectives arrested Garcia after finding hair follicles with Wilson's DNA in and on his car. Later, tiny blood spots matching Wilson's DNA were found on a back seat.

A Sacramento County jury convicted Garcia of murder on Nov. 21. Several jurors said the DNA evidence and Garcia's unconvincing explanation for scratches and bruises were factors in their verdict.

Patrick Boyd, during his statement to the court, turned to Garcia and told him, "You may have won the battle, but my (stepdaughter) won the war. She put marks on your body by fighting back," he said.

Boyd was one of five members of Wilson's family who addressed the court. The others were Wilson's mother, Debbie Boyd, sister Stacey Wilson, stepsister Deb Boyd and father Dennis Wilson.

Each spoke of how their lives had been ruined or changed by Wilson's murder.

Several addressed Garcia's history of violence against women, including a conviction for assaulting a former girlfriend. They also urged him to reveal where he has hidden Wilson's body so that they can get closure in the case.

Debbie Boyd said the search for her daughter was like "searching for a needle in a haystack."

"All the time there's been one man sitting in this courtroom who could tell us where she is," she said, angry because she felt Garcia laughed during the trial when an officer talked about areas that had been searched.

"He shows that he is an openly arrogant man," she said. "The thousands of dollars he spent on his defense should have been spent on a psychiatrist. This man has been terrorizing people for years and years."

After the family members spoke, Garcia thanked and praised his wife, Jean, and their two teenage sons, who were in the courtroom, for their support. He also lamented the loss of his job, house and savings.

Garcia said he will appeal his conviction. He told Gaddis he had not gotten a fair trial and that if Christie Wilson is found her body would reveal no evidence linking him to any crime.

Attorney Ron Peters told the court that he and co-counsel David Dratman will not represent Garcia in the appeal.

Wendy Ward, the former girlfriend assaulted by Garcia in 1979, attended the sentencing. Garcia also had been charged with kidnapping and raping her.

The more serious charges were dropped, but the conviction came back to haunt Garcia on Thursday, serving as a second strike that upped his sentence for first-degree murder from 25 years to life to 50 years to life.

Gaddis also sentenced Garcia to four years for illegal possession of a police baton and five years for a criminal enhancement, and ordered him to pay $20,000 in fines and restitution.

Ward, a Bay Area resident, was given back a gold watch Thursday that was stolen from her apartment after she had broken up with Garcia.

Placer County sheriff's officers seized the watch from Garcia and traced it to Ward.

"I don't know why he would carry it all these years," she said earlier this week. "I don't know if it was a trophy or good luck charm, because he has had a long string of not getting caught or prosecuted."