Retrial begins for man accused in 2015 slaying of 81-year-old Newport Beach man

Anthony Thomas Garcia, 62, is once again on trial in Santa Ana for the 2015 murder of Abelardo “Abby” Estacion, 81.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Sheila Hanson declared a mistrial in July after jurors deadlocked over the guilt of Garcia, who is alleged to have asphyxiated Estacion in his Newport Beach home in April 2015. Garcia is charged with a special circumstances allegation of murder for financial gain. If convicted, Garcia could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The case has complex familial and financial layers.

Estacion had a partner of about 25 years, whom he wed just weeks before his death. The wife, Dortha Lamb, owned property in Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, San Clemente and San Bernardino County and had hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank.

But relations between Estacion and his in-laws were tense, according to court documents, and her family accused him of theft and abuse for years. Lamb had dementia and terminal cancer at the time of their marriage, and her daughter had just secured a court-granted conservatorship around the same time.

The daughter who secured the conservatorship had been her mother’s sole heir, but Estacion and his wife amended Lamb’s trust, diminishing the daughter’s inheritance, investigators said.

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Investigators said that in the early hours of April 11, 2015, someone entered the 16th Street home and killed Estacion in his bedroom while his live-in caretaker slept upstairs. Lamb was out of town with her family, per the conservatorship. The caretaker went downstairs in the morning to make breakfast and discovered Estacion’s body in bed, with a bloodied face. Prosecutors said there were no signs of forced entry into the home the night of the murder.

An autopsy revealed pinpoints of blood in Estacion’s 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, arrested in July 2016, was the longtime partner of Lamb’s granddaughter and lived with her in Carson City, Nev.

Garcia pleaded not guilty and remains in custody without bond.

Estacion’s widow, Lamb, died in June 2015 at age 94.

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