Prison inmate convicted in Placer County killing of Christie Wilson dies of COVID-19
Mario Flavio Garcia, who was convicted of murder for killing Christie Wilson in Placer County, has died from COVID-19 while serving a prison sentence for the 27-year-old woman’s death.
Garcia, 68, died at 12:45 p.m. of natural causes on Dec. 24 while serving his sentence at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, said Terry Thornton, deputy press secretary for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. She said that Garcia died while receiving treatment at an outside medical facility.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed on Thursday that Garcia’s cause of death was determined to be complications due to COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. Garcia also had a significant underlying condition — lung cancer — at the time of his death, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.
In August, nearly 15 years after her disappearance and 13 years after Garcia’s conviction, Wilson’s remains were discovered on the property the convicted killer once owned. Officials said they used new technology from ground-penetrating radar, as well as some guidance from someone they would not identify, to find her body.
In the years prior to the discovery, investigators had searched for clues that might lead to Wilson’s body, using cadaver dogs, helicopters, divers and other efforts to search numerous places in Placer and Nevada counties, including the Garcia property.
During a news conference in late August, Wilson’s mother, Debbie Boyd, said finding her daughter’s remains marked “a day of peace” for her family.
“It’s a peace we haven’t had, and we are so happy to finally be able to close this chapter of torment and be able to move forward with great thanksgiving,” Boyd said.
This week, Boyd after learning of Garcia’s death told CBS13 that her family is at “tremendous peace.”
Wilson was seen gambling with Garcia at the Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln on the night of Oct. 4, 2005, and security cameras showed them walking toward the parking lot at 1:15 a.m. Oct. 5. She was never seen again.
In 2006, after a two-month trial that included 90 witnesses, Garcia was convicted of first-degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon, a collapsible baton that was found in his car.
The trial had been moved from Placer County to Sacramento County. He was sentenced to 59 years to life the following year. Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert helped present DNA evidence in the case that assisted with Garcia’s conviction.
Garcia worked at the time as a computer specialist with Sutter Health, was married with two children and was a youth soccer coach. The day after Wilson disappeared, Garcia showed up at work with scratches on his face and a bruise under one eye, according to trial testimony from his co-workers. He claimed the injuries stemmed from him falling out of a tree he was trimming.
Thornton said Garcia was admitted to state prison from Placer County on Jan. 11, 2007. Along with the potential life sentence for the murder conviction, Garcia was serving a four-year consecutive term for the unlawful manufacture, sales or possession of a weapon, which was considered a second strike under the state’s “Three Strikes Law.”
