Katiuskha Garcia at her arraignment yesterday on charges of fatally stabbing Deysi Carias. (Globe Pool Photo)
Woman held on charges of slaying female lover
By Emily Ramshaw, Globe Correspondent, 8/29/2002
In a courtroom taut with emotion, prosecutors described yesterday how a Mission Hill woman fatally stabbed her lover in a hotel room, shoved her 5-foot-tall, 87-pound body into a duffel bag, then rolled the bag out of the building and tossed it into a Dumpster.
Katiuskha Garcia, 26, was ordered held without bail yesterday on charges of murdering Deysi Carias, 25, of East Boston, in what investigators called a ''love triangle gone awry'' involving three women.
Garcia met with Carias in a room at the Holiday Inn near Logan Airport Saturday afternoon to try to call off their relationship, said Suffolk Assistant District Attorney David Meier, because Garcia's longstanding partner, Patricia Tollen, was unhappy about the affair. The three women had worked at the airport Starbucks, Meier said.
Scott Curtis, Garcia's lawyer, said prosecutors have failed to provide a motive for the killing, and he entered a plea of not guilty for his client at her arraignment in East Boston District Court.
In the courtroom, Carias's siblings huddled and wept as Tollen mouthed words to a visibly shaken Garcia, trying at the same time to keep her partner's mother from running to the defendant's side.
Meier said that in the weeks before the slaying, both Tollen and Carias's relatives had expressed disapproval of Garcia and Carias's relationship. But the homicide prosecutor declined to say exactly what prompted Garcia to allegedly kill the woman with whom she started a romantic affair.
''The relationship between Garcia and Carias started three to four months ago, and it was personal - just between them,'' Meier said. ''The defendant's partner became aware of the relationship, and this led to the meeting at the Holiday Inn. But we're not going to speculate on the specifics of their disagreement.''
Garcia arranged to meet Carias at the Holiday Inn to discuss their relationship, Meier said, and after an argument Garcia allegedly stabbed Carias at least three times in the neck, abdomen, and chest. An autopsy revealed Carias's knife wounds were at least 3 inches deep and pierced her heart and aorta. She also had what appeared to be defensive knife wounds on her hands, Meier said.
After the assault, Meier said, Garcia left Carias on the hotel bed and went across town to the Mission Hill home she shares with Tollen to pick up some luggage. When she returned, she placed Carias's body in a wheeled duffel bag, then rolled the bag out of the hotel and into her car. She then drove to Revere and dropped the bag into a Dumpster and returned to the hotel to clean the room and dispose of the bloodied sheets, Carias's purse, and the knife, Meier said.
An around-the-clock investigation began Monday morning, Meier said, after Carias's fully-clothed body was found in a Providence Dumpster at Coastal Recycling on Allens Avenue, headed for a landfill in the Midwest. Investigators tracked the dumpster back to Revere, and then to the Holiday Inn, where traces of blood were found splattered around the hotel room. Carias's and Garcia's cars were also recovered; Meier said the Ford Taurus Garcia drove was purchased for her by Carias.
Meier said Tollen, who he said is not a suspect in the case, and the victim's family, which includes Carias's 7-year-old daughter and her boyfriend, have been very cooperative with authorities.
''We followed our evidence all the way to Providence, R.I., where it was on a railway car on its way to the Midwest,'' Meier said, referring to the dumpster of scrap metal in which Carias's body was found. ''This evidence paints a compelling picture of guilt.''
Carias's relatives said through tears yesterday that they had no comment. Tuesday, Carias's brother William told investigators his sister had said Saturday she was going to get her hair done before meeting a friend in Lynn, Meier said.
Garcia also said nothing to reporters and kept her head down for much of the arraignment. Meier said the defendant initially denied having any involvement in Carias's death but later made incriminating statements to investigators.
But Curtis said it's unlikely Garcia was involved. He said this is the first time she has been in jail, and she has no criminal record except for a few motor vehicle violations, including an incident in which she drove under the influence of alcohol.
''Ms. Garcia is very distressed, as these are very serious charges,'' Curtis said. ''So far, only one side of the story has been heard.''
This story ran on page B1 of the Boston Globe on 8/29/2002.