Co-conspirator
Sigfredo Garcia
Convicted triggerman in the Dan Markel murder, discussed across all three trials as the hitman whose cell data, financial movements, and relationship to Katherine Magbanua were central to the prosecution's evidentiary chain.
122 mentions · 3 trials
About
Garcia anchors the physical execution layer of the archive record: every evidentiary thread tracing the commission of the murder — cell tower placement, rental vehicles, post-murder payment, firearm discharge — runs through him, making his proceedings essential reference points for users tracing how the killing was carried out and how it was linked to the defendants on trial.
Trial Record (122)
KM Magbanua Retrial May 18, 2022 – May 27, 2022
Trial Summary
Convicted triggerman in the 2014 murder of Dan Markel, Garcia was an absent but central figure in the retrial record — the prosecution's evidence traced his phone activity near the crime scene, his rental vehicles, his post-murder financial gains, and his role as Magbanua's alleged conduit to the Adelsons; the defense countered that he acted on his own jealous motive without Magbanua's knowledge.
Mentioned (62)
Opening
Opening Statement - Sarah Kathryn Dugan
Day 1 Opening Opening Statement - Tara Kawass
Day 1 Direct Craig Isom - Direct
Day 1 Cross Craig Isom - Cross
Day 1 Redirect Craig Isom - Redirect Referenced as Magbanua's husband and co-conspirator; investigators simultaneously attempted to interview both; he and Magbanua met at Walmart and obtained burner phones on the same day investigators knocked at Magbanua's residence.
Day 1 Direct Wendi Adelson - Direct
Day 2 Cross Wendi Adelson - Cross
Day 2 Procedural Pre-Rivera OJP — exhibit disclosure dispute and co-conspirator hearsay motion Named as the declarant whose out-of-court statements Rivera would relay — the subject of the co-conspirator hearsay motion
Day 2 Direct Luis Rivera - Direct
Day 2 Cross Luis Rivera - Cross (Part 1) Co-defendant and co-hitman; Rivera's childhood friend; convicted in 2019. Discussed regarding his role recruiting Rivera, post-murder phone calls, phone use Rivera believes led to their arrest, and as a subject of Rivera's cooperation testimony.
Day 2 Procedural End-of-Day — Co-Conspirator Hearsay Dispute and Rivera Cross Logistics Referenced by Cappleman as the conduit through whom Garcia relayed defendant's statements to Rivera — central to the co-conspirator hearsay foundation argument.
Day 2 Procedural Admissibility ruling — co-conspirator statements and murder-for-hire conspiracy timeline
Day 3 Cross Luis Rivera - Cross (Part 2) Co-defendant and shooter; extensively discussed as the jealous instigator in the defense's alternative-motive theory, including stalking and near-assault on Charlie Adelson
Day 3 Redirect Luis Rivera - Redirect Co-defendant and Rivera's closest friend; discussed as the triggerman, as someone who made traceable phone mistakes, as jealously obsessed with Magbanua, and as the person Rivera physically prevented from ramming a restaurant.
Day 3 Direct Waldo Mesa Nunez - Direct
Day 3 Cross Waldo Mesa Nunez - Cross
Day 3 Redirect Waldo Mesa Nunez - Redirect Person who rented the two vehicles; his 8:50 p.m. arrival time is the subject of the redirect clarification
Day 3 Direct Christopher Corbitt - Direct
Day 3 Direct Christopher Corbitt - Direct (Continued)
Day 3 Direct Christopher Corbitt - Direct (Continued) Nicknamed 'Tuto'; his communications with Magbanua bracketed her July 17th attempts to reach Rivera on the Tato number
Day 3 Procedural Work Product Dispute Over Defense Attorney's Recorded Calls with Garcia
Day 4 Cross Christopher Corbitt - Cross hitman, father of Magbanua's children, disconnected phone post-murder, purchased Straight Talk phones May 2016, confronted Adelson on July 1
Day 4 Cross Christopher Corbitt - Cross (Continued) Referenced in DeCoste's blocked question about whether law enforcement should have minimized the Garcia-Magbanua 'the less you know, the better' call.
Day 4 Redirect Christopher Corbitt - Redirect Cell locations, June/July trips, voicemail to Harvey Adelson, iCloud references as Tudor/Tuto; never had a phone number for Charlie Adelson per Corbitt
Day 4 Procedural State's Exhibit 133 Played — Recorded Statements on Garcia-Adelson Contact; Lunch Recess Discussed as potentially having contacted Adelson independently; recording speaker denies knowing whether contact occurred
Day 4 Direct Yindra Velazquez Mascaro - Direct Father of Magbanua's children; jealous of Charlie Adelson; financially unreliable until 2016; arrested May 2016
Day 4 Cross Yindra Velazquez Mascaro - Cross Magbanua's ex-partner and father of her children; discussed regarding cocaine use, criminal lifestyle, jealousy toward Charlie Adelson, and January 2015 motorcycle accident with Shrimp
Day 4 Redirect Yindra Velazquez Mascaro - Redirect
Day 4 Procedural End of Day — Jail Call Admissibility Rulings and Scheduling His calls with defense attorney Kawass excluded as attorney work product
Day 4 Direct Jessica Rodriguez - Direct
Day 5 Cross Jessica Rodriguez - Cross
Day 5 Direct Mary Hull - Direct
Day 5 Cross Mary Hull - Cross Co-defendant and father of Magbanua's children; discussed as potential untracked cash source whose criminal income would be invisible to financial analysis
Day 5 Redirect Mary Hull - Redirect His 2016 transfers came after Magbanua took him to court for child support in 2015
Day 5 Cross Oscar Jimenez Jr. - Cross
Day 5 Direct Patrick Sanford - Direct (Part 1) Communications link between Rivera and Magbanua; one call from his phone to Harvey Adelson post-jet-ski incident; shot hole in Prius per Rivera proffer
Day 5 Procedural Jury Sent Home — End-of-Day Housekeeping
Day 5 Direct Patrick Sanford - Direct (Part 2)
Day 6 Direct Patrick Sanford - Direct (Part 3)
Day 6 Cross Patrick Sanford - Cross co-hitman convicted 2019; discussed as Rivera's partner, potential direct Adelson contact, and alternative cash source for Magbanua given his criminal income and $4,000-$5,000 hidden in vehicle at arrest
Day 6 Cross Patrick Sanford - Cross (Continued)
Day 6 Redirect Patrick Sanford - Redirect
Day 6 Procedural Defense Motion for Judgment of Acquittal Denied — All Three Counts Proceed to Jury
Day 7 Procedural Defense case opening logistics and ruling on Rodriguez impeachment recording
Day 7 Direct Sherry Bennett - Direct Co-hitman known as 'Tuto'; Rodriguez said Garcia gave her the payment bag and that Garcia and Magbanua came to the house together before Rivera arrived
Day 7 Direct Michael Dillmore - Direct Subject of Cellebrite phone extraction; his device contained communications with 'Tata' and the shared phone number
Day 7 Direct Craig Isom - Direct (Recalled by Defense)
Day 7 Cross Craig Isom - Cross
Day 7 Direct Jason Newlin - Direct Co-hitman; Newlin confirmed evidence against Garcia was strong, supporting defense argument that Rivera's cooperation targeted Magbanua specifically
Day 7 Cross Jason Newlin - Cross Named alongside Charlie Adelson and Magbanua in Cappleman's hypothetical coaching scenario.
Day 7 Direct Ryan Fitzpatrick - Direct
Day 7 Cross Ryan Fitzpatrick - Cross
Day 7 Procedural Scheduling set for Magbanua testimony; defense text-message exhibits admitted Referenced in text messages showing his awareness of the Magbanua-Adelson relationship and his access to Charles Adelson; defense uses this to argue independent access not requiring Magbanua as intermediary
Day 7 Direct Katherine Magbanua - Direct Father of Magbanua's two children; primary subject of testimony regarding their relationship history, his unreliability, the jet ski confrontation, his cash gifts she assumed were criminal proceeds, and his knowledge of the Dolce Vita situation.
Day 7 Charge Conference Charge Conference Named in solicitation count instruction alongside Rivera; independent act instruction traced to his prior trial request
Day 7 Procedural Second Motion for Judgment of Acquittal — Denied Named as the sole conduit between Rivera and any claim implicating Magbanua; Kawass argued all inculpatory information Rivera had came from Garcia, not from Magbanua directly.
Day 7 Cross Katherine Magbanua - Cross
Day 7 Redirect Katherine Magbanua - Redirect
Day 7 Jury Instruction Jury Instructions (Final)
Day 8 Closing Closing Argument - Georgia Cappleman
Day 8 Closing Closing Argument - Tara Kawass
Day 8 Rebuttal Rebuttal Closing - Georgia Cappleman Magbanua's child's father and convicted hitman; Cappleman argues cash cannot be explained as Garcia payments given Magbanua's January 2015 child support filing against him
Day 8 CA Charlie Adelson Oct 26, 2023 – Nov 6, 2023
Trial Summary
Convicted triggerman in the Dan Markel murder, Garcia appeared throughout this trial as the central absent actor — the person prosecution evidence tied to the killing through cell data, financial records, and Magbanua's testimony, and whom the defense cast as an independently violent figure who had threatened Charlie Adelson weeks before the murder.
Mentioned (36)
Opening
Opening Statement - Sarah Kathryn Dugan Alleged triggerman; Magbanua's on-again off-again partner and father of her children; identified via cell tower data; Garcia and Rivera traveled from Miami to Tallahassee to carry out the murder
Day 1 Opening Opening Statement - Dan Rashbaum
Day 1 Direct Patrick Sanford - Direct phone number listed as 'brother' on Rivera's rental contract; linked via Facebook account and a pawn receipt bearing his fingerprint
Day 1 Direct Wendi Adelson - Direct
Day 1 Cross Wendi Adelson - Cross (Part 2)
Day 2 Cross Jeffrey Lacasse - Cross
Day 2 Direct Luis Rivera - Direct
Day 2 Cross Luis Rivera - Cross
Day 3 Redirect Luis Rivera - Redirect
Day 3 Direct Katherine Magbanua - Direct
Day 3 Cross Katherine Magbanua - Cross Co-hitman, father of Magbanua's children; his death-penalty exposure was her stated reason for refusing early cooperation; she remained in indirect contact with him through his mother during their respective incarcerations
Day 3 Redirect Katherine Magbanua - Redirect
Day 3 Direct Mary Hull - Direct Hitman; no active bank account at time of murder; purchased three vehicles within weeks of the killing
Day 3 Direct Christopher Corbitt - Direct
Day 3 Cross Christopher Corbitt - Cross
Day 4 Cross Christopher Corbitt - Cross (Continued)
Day 4 Redirect Christopher Corbitt - Redirect Discussed in context of Magbanua's July 2 text calling him weak and childish — prosecution argues this undercuts any inference that Magbanua was concealing Garcia as a dangerous figure from Charlie.
Day 4 Cross Oscar Jimenez Jr. - Cross Made a single call to the undercover number, possibly from a burner phone; allegedly left a voicemail per Magbanua's account to Charlie, though Jimenez never received or heard it
Day 4 Direct Patrick Sanford - Direct (Recall)
Day 4 Direct Patrick Sanford - Direct (Recall, Continued) Co-conspirator hitman; discussed extensively as recipient of the coded undercover number, party in Garcia-Magbanua calls analyzed during this session, and subject of the undercover's extortion cover story
Day 5 Cross Patrick Sanford - Cross (Recall) Discussed in context of burner phone use during the murder, his interview by Sanford, his arrest, and his 2019 conviction.
Day 5 Redirect Patrick Sanford - Redirect (Recall)
Day 5 Direct Charlie Adelson - Direct (Part 1) Magbanua's ex; Charlie claims he did not know his identity until late November 2013 at the earliest; described roughing up Magbanua in February 2014
Day 6 Direct Charlie Adelson - Direct (Part 2) Known as T or Tuto; Magbanua's ex and alleged hitman. Charlie testifies Garcia confronted him violently on July 1, 2014 and that he had never met or communicated with Garcia before that day.
Day 6 Procedural Partial Admission of Composite Text Exhibit; Direct Examination Scheduling Rashbaum references CDR showing Magbanua calling Sigfredo in sequence after Charlie called her, as part of his call-pattern contextualization argument
Day 6 Direct Charlie Adelson - Direct (Part 3)
Day 6 Direct Charlie Adelson - Direct (Part 4) Identified by Charlie to Harvey as head of the Latin Kings of Miami and orchestrator of the extortion; also referenced in Garcia-Magbanua call discussion
Day 6 Direct Charlie Adelson - Direct (Part 5)
Day 6 Direct Charlie Adelson - Direct (Continued)
Day 7 Cross Charlie Adelson - Cross hitman; Yardbird stalking, July 1 confrontation, Charlie's extortion theory, Dominican Republic trip, arrest discussed
Day 7 Redirect Charlie Adelson - Redirect Referenced as the actual shooter per Charlie's later knowledge, and as the extorter Magbanua allegedly identified to Charlie in the April 2016 car meeting; Rivera testimony about Garcia directing 'have to do a murder' also cited
Day 7 Charge Conference Charge Conference — Jury Instructions Finalized for All Three Counts
Day 7 Jury Instruction Final Jury Instructions — Three Counts of Murder-for-Hire Conspiracy
Day 8 Closing Closing Argument - Georgia Cappleman
Day 8 Closing Closing Argument - Dan Rashbaum
Day 8 Rebuttal Rebuttal Closing - Georgia Cappleman
Day 8 DA Donna Adelson Aug 22, 2025 – Sep 4, 2025
Trial Summary
Garcia, convicted in a prior proceeding as the triggerman who shot Dan Markel on July 18, 2014, appeared throughout this trial as a discussed third party whose role, financial movements, and phone records were central to the prosecution's evidentiary chain connecting the murder to Donna Adelson.
Mentioned (24)
Opening
Opening Statement - Sarah Kathryn Dugan Primary hitman; Magbanua's on-again/off-again partner and father of her children; convicted 2019; drove the Prius and fired the shot
Day 1 Opening Opening Statement - Jackie L. Fulford
Day 1 Procedural OJP — Foundation Objection to Exhibit 64-AA (Shared Email Address)
Day 1 Direct Craig Isom - Direct (Continued)
Day 1 Direct Luis Rivera - Direct
Day 1 Cross Luis Rivera - Cross Identified as the shooter; marked #2 on Defendant's Exhibit 50
Day 1 Direct Robert Adelson - Direct
Day 2 Direct Mary Hull - Direct No bank account at time of murder; sporadic employment; purchased three vehicles within three months of killing
Day 3 Direct Katherine Magbanua - Direct Hitman; Magbanua's on-again off-again partner and child's father; previously convicted; reason Magbanua declined immunity in first trial
Day 3 Cross Katherine Magbanua - Cross
Day 3 Direct Christopher Corbitt - Direct
Day 3 Direct Christopher Corbitt - Direct (Continued)
Day 4 Cross Christopher Corbitt - Cross frequency reports, communication chain
Day 4 Direct Patrick Sanford - Direct (Part 1)
Day 4 Direct Patrick Sanford - Direct (Part 2) Referenced as 'Tuto/Taco' throughout; receives undercover phone number from Magbanua; texts 'you and your homie' acknowledgment; claims to have called undercover when FBI confirms he did not
Day 5 Direct Patrick Sanford - Direct (Part 3)
Day 6 Direct Christopher Corbitt - Direct (Recall) Hitman; his arrest in 2016 is used as a timeline anchor for when Charlie-Magbanua contact ended; Charlie texted Donna about Garcia's case in July 2016 with no indication of anger or fear toward the man allegedly extorting him
Day 6 Redirect Christopher Corbitt - Redirect (Recall) One of the hitmen; his arrest along with Rivera is the subject of the Sun Sentinel article
Day 6 Cross Patrick Sanford - Cross
Day 6 Procedural Defense Motion for Judgment of Acquittal on Counts 1 and 3
Day 7 Charge Conference Charge Conference — Jury Instruction Settlement Before Closing Arguments Defense requested Garcia be named in principals instruction element 3 as one of the actual killers; court declined to name him
Day 8 Closing Closing Argument - Georgia Cappleman Hitman who fired the shots; his single voicemail to Harvey Adelson and phone going dark after the murder discussed as part of the communication chain analysis
Day 9 Closing Closing Argument - Jackie L. Fulford
Day 9 Rebuttal Rebuttal Closing - Georgia Cappleman Defense theorized extortion by Garcia; Cappleman counters that lawyers would not be meeting with each other if genuine extortion were ongoing
Day 9