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A Phoenix woman is heading to the big house after pleading guilty to charges that she killed her 79-year-old husband — before dumping his body on an Indian reservation and setting it on fire — back in 2005.
Larissa Garcia’s late husband, Daniel Garcia, was the father of at least 30 children, according to the Phoenix Police Department.
Garcia pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of manslaughter. This morning, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison — the maximum sentence — by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Kristin Hoffman.
Daniel Garcia, Larissa Garcia’s husband of 10 years, was last seen on May 2005.
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Phoenix police told New Times at the time of Larissa’s arrest — July of last year — that she was always considered a person of interest in her husband’s disappearance. However, there was never enough evidence to charge her with a crime.
In July 2010, however, the Phoenix PD’s missing persons detail uncovered new evidence that led them straight to Larissa Garcia.
Once in police custody, and confronted with the evidence, Garcia sang like a bird — she admitted killing her husband, and even took police to where she dumped his body.
Police determined that the murder took place at the couple’s home at 4600 North 14th Place in Phoenix but that Garcia moved the body to Chinle — on the Navajo Indian Reservation — and set it on fire.
Police say the murder was financially motivated.
