S.C. Man Gets 20 Years for Trying to Dig Up Girl's Corpse to 'Take Her Home and

[Norris]

S.C. Man Gets 20 Years for Trying to Dig Up Girl's Corpse to 'Take Her Home and Have Fun'
Thursday, November 02, 2006

YORK, S.C.  A 23-year-old Clover man who police say tried to dig up the grave of a 12-year-old girl after seeing her picture in an obituary has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Bryan Nicholas Garcia never did find the girl's grave and told investigators he wanted to "take her home and have fun," Clover Police Lt. Randall Horn said.

Garcia pleaded guilty but mentally ill Wednesday to two charges of destruction of a graveyard. Circuit Judge John Hayes sentenced Garcia to 20 years in prison and ordered him to register as a sex offender.

Two mental evaluations found Garcia has a chemical imbalance in his brain that makes him want to have sex with corpses and children, defense attorney John Rhea said.

Garcia hasn't decided whether to appeal, Rhea said.

Garcia was arrested in May 2005 after running through a grocery store where he once worked in a full-length green coat, black sweater, camouflage gloves and a mask.

Officers searching his car found a black plastic bag, shovels, a pickax and other digging tools, prosecutor Dan Hall said.

Garcia then told police he was embarrassed because he had been trying to dig up the girl's grave, Hall said.

"He had seen the name of a little girl in the obituaries in the paper," Hall said. "He thought she was cute and he wanted to take her home."

Deputies went to the cemetery and found a hole about 3 feet deep. Garcia told them he dug at the cemetery twice, but never located the girl's body, Hall said.

Garcia, who was a National Merit Scholar at York High School, told the girl's family he was sorry. "I apologize to anyone I've hurt with my actions," he said.

Clover is about 20 miles southwest of Charlotte, N.C.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C227047%2C00.html

[Monkeyleg]

Ugh.

[Nightfall]

I second that. Ugh.

[Sindawe]

ICKY-POO!!!

Though I would like to see more about this "chemical imbalance" mentioned in the article.

[Sergeant Bob]

Two mental evaluations found Garcia has a chemical imbalance in his brain that makes him want to have sex with corpses and children, defense attorney John Rhea said.

Yeah, and I've got a chemical imbalance that makes me want to rob liquor stores and read comic books.

[Twycross]

Mmmmkay. So we all agree that this guy is weird and sick. But does he deserve 20 years behind bars for it? His only actual crime was digging in a graveyard. And he apparently unearthed nothing but dirt.

Just a thought.

[Guest]

Mmmmkay. So we all agree that this guy is weird and sick. But does he deserve 20 years behind bars for it? His only actual crime was digging in a graveyard. And he apparently unearthed nothing but dirt.

Just a thought.

I didnt want to be the first to say it. Murderers often pull less than 20 years. Intent does matter, the guy wasnt just digging in a cemetary, he was *trying* to unearth a corpse for nefarious purposes, his incompetance at crime shouldnt have a great impact on the sentence, but 20 years seems odd. I can't really bring myself to say the word "excessive" because his crime was so deviant, maybe other sentances are just too short. Either way two decades of imprisonment doesnt ring as "correct" in this case to me for some reason.

Yeah, and I've got a chemical imbalance that makes me want to rob liquor stores and read comic books.

You would end up with less prison time than this kid.

[Lee]

This song just seemed to pop up in my mind after reading that.

(Warren Zevon & LeRoy P. Marinell)

Well, he went down to dinner in his Sunday best
Excitable boy, they all said
And he rubbed the pot roast all over his chest
Excitable boy, they all said

He took in the four a.m. show at the Clark
Excitable boy, they all said
And he bit the usherette's leg in the dark
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he's just an excitable boy

He took little Suzie to the Junior Prom
Excitable boy, they all said
And he raped her and killed her, then he took her home
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he's just an excitable boy
After ten long years they let him out of the home
Excitable boy, they all said
And he dug up her grave and built a cage with her bones
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he's just an excitable boy

[gunsmith]

Here in Reno, NV we had a terrible fire started by
a woman who just got out of jail for murder.
She served 17 years for helping a guy beat up another women
then she took a big rock and caved in her head....
So this schmuck is going to get a longer sentence then the murderous witch...
The fire has killed at least six people and more bodies are buried in the rubble, they are saying probably 20
people.

this guy dug a hole in a graveyard, he is no doubt a weirdo, but how is he a sex offender?
he claims he wanted to do something, there are a few people I'd like to kill, does that make me a murderer?

[S. Williamson]

Funny... I thought more of the video for Tom Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance." *shrug*

People like this is why we need zombies.  That, and all of the SHTF/zombie threads on THR would be loads more relevant. 

[Guest]

this guy dug a hole in a graveyard, he is no doubt a weirdo, but how is he a sex offender?

So a man walks into a playground wearing a trenchcoat with no clothes underneath, a roll of ducktape in the pockets, is chasing a small child around the yard, and when arrested admits that he intended to abduct and rape that child, he is guilty of playing "tag"?

[Modifiedbrowning]

Luckily he didn't succeed. If he had he might have done something like Carl von Cosel.
http://www.voltini.com/id43.htm
Read at your own risk.

[richyoung]

Am I the only one reminded of Alice Cooper songs?

"I love the dead"
"Cold Ethel"

[TarpleyG]

Garcia was arrested in May 2005 after running through a grocery store where he once worked in a full-length green coat, black sweater, camouflage gloves and a mask.

Not that this dude isn't a whacko or anything but what crime did he commit in this particular instance to warrant an arrest?  Maybe he was asked to leave and wouldn't.  That would get him arrested for trespassing, NOT for "running through a grocery store where he once worked in a full-length green coat, black sweater, camouflage gloves and a mask."  Stupid media!

Greg

[Ezekiel]

Two mental evaluations found Garcia has a chemical imbalance in his brain that makes him want to have sex with corpses and children, defense attorney John Rhea said.

I'll bet this guy doesn't get prison, per se.

Typically, a sentence to any term is actually written as "remanded to the custody of the Secretary of Corrections for a term not to exceed twenty years."

He's already been evaluated and has concurring opinions related to a medical problem.  I'll bet he's on paper (parole) for the vast portion of those twenty with notices given in his neighborhood, strict monitoring, and an edict to take some prescriptive medicine.

Yes, the story said prison, but sentences just aren't written that way.