Kriti Mehrotra
When 58-year-old successful surgeon Eric Luis Llorens Garcia was found dead inside his Ketchikan, Alaska, home in March 2017, it honestly left the entire nation baffled to the very core. That’s because, as explored in ABC’s ’20/20: Cold Blooded,’ not only was he dead on the couch with a lot of his prized possessions missing, but there was also no sign of a forced entry. It thus took officials a little while, yet they were ultimately able to ascertain that his long-time friend and secret lover, Jordan Joplin of Washington, was the one behind this heinous offense.
Jordan Joplin Has a Relatively Dark Past
It was reportedly back around 2011 when Jordan first came across Dr. Eric, only for them to soon get to know one another and become close friends, unaware their feelings would turn romantic shortly after. However, it’s imperative to note that this is the same year Jordan pled guilt to his prior attempted theft of GPS units from a Wal-Mart in his home state of Washington. Then, merely two years later, an ex-girlfriend filed a restraining order against him after accusing him of stalking and harassing her to the point she no longer felt safe near his company.
Jordan thus has a lengthy criminal record in Washington, where he also served as an exotic dancer and adult film actor under the banner of several pornography studios like Sean Cody. We should mention that it’s likely that he first came across Dr. Eric during his former profession of lending a hand on fishing boats in Alaska, yet it was his career in the adult entertainment industry that soon became his priority. That’s because it enabled him to take care of his family in the way he always desired and eased his anxiety – but alas, in March 2017, he initially told cops he was a massage therapist.
Jordan Joplin Was Arrested Upon Getting Caught in a Web of His Lies
While Jordan was the one who first called the authorities on March 18, 2017, to report Dr. Eric missing, claiming he was supposed to show up to his Seattle home the day before but never made it, only to call them again nine days later. In fact, the Washington resident actually showed up in Ketchikan to ask officials to conduct a welfare check on him, just to have the keys to his home and open it to let detectives in. That’s when they uncovered the fact that Dr. Eric was lying dead on his sofa while all his precious belongings – gold, silver, platinum, and a myriad of special alcohol bottles – were also missing.
Jordan was the one who had opened the door to Eric’s place with keys the doctor had allegedly given to him, but it only landed him in the hot sear once it came to light that the latter had died of an overdose. He had actually been hit over the head with an object and injected with a combined mix of drugs like morphine, methadone, diazepam, and lorazepam. As for his missing belongings, they included electronics, a valuable collection of coins, watches, and jewelry valued over $50,000, as well as a collection of liquor worth $320,000 stolen from a locked storage closet.
Nevertheless, even though Dr. Eric’s body was found on March 27, 2017, Jordan was arrested in Seattle for theft on March 31, following which the additional charge of murder was added. After all, evidence revealed that he had actually arrived in Alaska on March 15 after ordering three shipping containers to the doctor’s home. These containers arrived on the 17th, only for him to load it up with more than 4,000 pounds of his partner’s belongings before taking possession of his vehicle too. The fact his lover’s phone and wallet were recovered from his Washington home didn’t help his case either.
As if that’s not enough, investigators also discovered that Jordan had made multiple transfers from Dr. Eric’s bank accounts into his own between March 16 and March 30, the total of which came to be over $30,000. The most incriminating piece of evidence amongst it all, though, was a video on the former’s phone, showing the latter unconscious and struggling to breathe on the evening of March 17. Then, less than a few hours later, surveillance footage caught him using the doctor’s truck to drive to the airport to return to his Washington home.
Jordan Joplin is Currently Serving His Sentence Behind Bars
While Jordan was found guilty of killing Dr. Eric Garcia using a fatal dose of liquid morphine on June 1, 2023, he wasn’t sentenced for it until April 9, 2024. For one count of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder, and one count of first-degree theft, the then-38-year-old was sentenced to a total of 99 years in prison. Therefore, today, this former adult star is incarcerated at the medium-security Goose Creek Correctional Center in Point MacKenzie, Alaska, where he is expected to remain until at least his parole eligibility in 2083. According to the State Department of Corrections records, his release has already been scheduled for March 30, 2083, when he will be 98 years old.
Read More: Eric Garcia: How Did He Die? Who Killed Him?
