Agustin Garcia

Before I delve into this next story I want to point out that the spelling I have used for his name, Agustin, came from every article or piece of information that I could find. However, the New Jersey Department of Corrections spell his name as Augustin. That being said I imagine that you found your way here either by just reading through the blog itself or clicking on the link based on a search you made. I had initially done the search based on how I have spelled it here and then later when I attempted to do a search using the second spelling it still reverted back to the first.

This is another one of those cases that I am surprised that I have not done prior to now for a few reasons. For one it is a rather drama filled case that had a bit of a unique twist to it. Secondly, as a result of this case domestic violence issues were brought back into the forefront. This case shows you that no matter who you are; how together your life is; how high your community holds you, justice can be obtained. It also will likely be one of my shorter blogs, not because there is not necessarily a lot of detail but because it is all so cut and dry.

Gladys Ricart went to New York from the Dominican Republic. The area in which she settled had a large community of others from there, including Agustin Garcia who was a very prominent and influential man in the community and was known to help the residents. Gladys and Agustin would meet by chance on the Subway in 1992. They dated for about the next six year and he helped Gladys buy her house in Ridgefield New Jersey. Gladys had gone to college and began working as a travel agent. It appears that Gladys brought up the idea of marriage to Agustin several times but he was not interested. Then one day she caught him in his office with one of her best friends. Like many who are unfaithful Agustin was horrified and attempted to reconcile with Gladys but she refused.

Agustin became obsessed with her, showing up at her home unannounced quite often and calling her on a regular basis. Once he left a trail of white roses, a sign of death in the Dominican Republic, but she resisted calling the police. Some say she did not do so because she still respected and cared about him and did not want his reputation to be tarnished. Others wonder if she feared she would not be believed as is often the case in situations like this and in the end it would do more harm than good. It was said that by June of 1999 “the calls and stalking had taken a toll on her” and then she met James Preston. He was a musician and the two fell in love quickly.

It does not appear that it was in any way a secret to Agustin that Gladys and James were now dating. As the couple grew closer his obsession grew. It was said that Agustin had not told anyone of their break up and he began also harassing Gladys' mother. One night in August of 1999 he threw a rock through a window of Gladys' home near where she and James were sitting. It then that Gladys finally called the police, but even then she would not press charges and just asked them to watch the house. She did not want to bring embarrassment to him or his family.

While the relationship was not a secret I can only assume neither was the fact that Gladys and James were planning to get married. The wedding was planned for September 26, 1999. Some reports say the ceremony was to take place at her house, but then there were some that indicated that after giving her bridesmaids their gifts they were preparing to get into a vehicle and head to the ceremony. It would be later discovered that in the early morning of that day Gladys and Agustin were seen at a grocery store together. Most believe that he had followed her, as he had done many times before but no one can know for sure. They were seen from the store camera walking down aisles but no one could or reported hearing what was said between the two.

Later that day Gladys and her bridal party were at her house preparing for the wedding. Everyone was dressed and Gladys was handing out gifts when Agustin barged into the house and the room.. He fired five shots and was attempting to reload when Gladys' brother, Juan tackled him. Three of the shots hit Gladys and it was all on tape as the videographer was already taping when he came in. Juan held him until police arrived and arrested him. Gladys would die.

Agustin's trial would begin in late 2001. His defense would argue that this was a “crime of passion.” This was to indicate that he had not planned to kill her which eliminates premeditation and an often used defense. They attempted to argue that Gladys and Agustin had remained together right up until the wedding and had engaged in sex three days before. Once again there seemed to be no way to verify this and it appears to have only come from Agustin himself. It all seemed to be an attempt to victim bash Gladys. The defense stated that when he learned of the wedding he became “temporarily insane.” Since there was a literal video of the murder he could not argue that he had not committed the murder but the defense was hoping for a manslaughter conviction instead. In October 2001 he was convicted of 1^st degree murder and a few months later he was sentenced to life in prison. The charge required that he serve a minimum of thirty years technically making him eligible for parole in September of 2029.

In November of 2001 he was ordered to pay Gladys' family $4.25M for things such as economic loss, pain and suffering and punitive damages. It appears that 2013 was his last of three appeals and once again the conviction and sentence were upheld.

Gladys was buried in her wedding dress and became a symbol of domestic violence. In 2001 the Bride Marches were started. Women across the country wear wedding dresses and march for domestic violence in honor of Gladys.