Who is Tony Garcia? Former karate instructor charged for the rapes and murders of two women in 1981

A former karate instructor in California has been accused of raping and killing two women. Two allegations of first-degree murder with unusual circumstances were brought against Tony Garcia, 68, on Thursday in connection with the murders of Rachel Zendejas, 20, and Lisa Gondek, 21, in 1981. At a press conference on Thursday, Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff stated, "The fact is, this suspect has been hiding in plain sight for over 40 years." Additionally, both of the women were sexually assaulted and strangled to death. Genetic genealogy was used as an investigation method to identify the suspect.

Details about the case

Around 6:30 a.m. on January 18, 1981, two newspaper boys, aged 9 and 14, discovered Rachel Zendejas' body in a car port across the street from her Camarillo house. Zendejas was a student at Oxnard Community College and a single mother of two daughters. According to Fryhoff, "She had gone out for the evening and hired a couple of babysitters to sit with her daughters. After returning from an evening out Rachel drove the babysitters home and based on the evidence left at the scene investigators believe Rachel was accosted as she got out of her vehicle after returning home from dropping off the babysitters." Also read: Nikeal Franklin and Jy’Shaun Jackson: Teens arrested for Louisiana nightclub shooting that left 12 injured [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Image credit: MEAWW[/caption] Furthermore, the case became cold and in 2002, the Ventura County sheriff's lab gathered forensic evidence from the Zendejas crime scene, but there was no match to a suspect in CODIS, the database of felons. However, the sheriff's office discovered in 2004 that DNA evidence connected the previously unidentified suspect in Zendejas' murder to the Dec. 12, 1981, slaying of Lisa Gondek, an Oxnard-based retail worker. Gondek's body was discovered in her apartment's bathtub after she spent the evening out with friends at a local disco.

More details

According to Fryhoff, Tony Garcia was connected to the killings after the use of genetic genealogy by cold case detectives in 2019. At the time of the killings, Garcia was a karate teacher for the Navy. In addition, Fryhoff stated, "This is an ongoing investigation. We are going to be looking for any additional witnesses, victims, or anyone who knows anything else that might lead to additional charges against Mr. Garcia." On another note, Garcia's next court date is set on February 23. But it is unknown if he has hired a lawyer or filed a plea.