Kumari Shreya
ABC’s ’20/20: First Divorced Then Dead’ delves deep into the murder case of Florida’s Dan Markel. Among the many suspects that have had to clarify their role in the whole case, Luis Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia stand out for the prominent role that they played in the whole situation. After all, they ended up being the people convicted of actually doing the deed, though it also soon became clear that the conspiracy of Markel’s murder was a lot beyond Rivera and Garcia. The recent developments in the story have certainly made the world wonder about the current whereabouts of the two men.
Where is Luis Rivera Now?
According to Luis Rivera, he had been brought into the conspiracy of Dan Markel’s murder by Sigfredo Garcia. Apparently, the two had been hired to kill Markel by Charles “Charlie” Adelson through Katherine Magbanua. The latter was in a relationship with Adelson at the time and was the mother to Garcia’s two children. In order to kill Markel, Rivera and Garcia had apparently traveled to Tallahassee, Florida, from Miami, Florida, in a rented vehicle and had stayed in a motel.
Following the investigations conducted by law enforcement, a connection was established between Rivera and Garcia’s actions and Markel’s murder. Both of them were indicted on June 17, 2016. However, at the time, Rivera had actually already been in prison, having been arrested on federal charges in 2014. As it turns out, he had admitted to charges of racketeering conspiracy, having been the leader of a Miami-based gang called Latin Kings. For this, he was sentenced to serve 12 and half years in federal custody.
Not long afterward, on October 4, 2016, Rivera ended up pleading guilty to second-degree murder. As a part of the plea deal, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison, though the term for the same would run concurrently with his time in federal custody. Rivera also ended up confessing to many details surrounding Markel’s death, including the details of just how much Garcia was involved in the killing. He also served as a witness in Magbanua’s retrial that started in May 2022. As of writing, Rivera is serving his sentence at a federal facility in Arizona. Once his federal punishment is over, he would likely be transferred to a Florida prison facility to complete the rest of his punishment related to Markel’s death.
Where is Sigfredo Garcia Now?
Up next, we have Sigfredo Garcia, the man who was allegedly contacted by Katherine Magbanua to kill Dan Markle on behalf of Charlie Adelson. Born on April 27, 2982, Garcia was indicted in the case of Dan Markel case at the same time as Luis Rivera on June 17, 2016. Apparently, the two men had stalked Markle across Tallahassee for about two days before they killed Markle. Garcia had allegedly, first and foremost, called Magbanua about the completion of the crime.
Garcia was arrested for his crimes on May 25, 2016, for his actions. At the time, Garcia had been arrested 22 times by the state of Florida. His first-ever brush with the law actually took place in 1997, when he was just shy of turning 15. Over the years, he had been taken into custody many times for charges like aggravated assault, possession of illicit substances, armed robbery, etc. Unlike Rivera, however, Garcia did not plead guilty to the murder charges and maintained his innocence.
As such, a combined trial for Garcia and Magbanua commenced in October 2019. The two were charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder. A claim was made that Adelson had paid them both, as well as Rivera, $100,000 so as to kill Markel. During the trial, Garcia tried to push all the blame on Rivera, though the tactic seemingly did not work. On October 11, 2019, he was found guilty of murder and conspiracy. For his crimes, he was given a life sentence along with a 30-year prison term. He is currently in Florida State Prison in Raiford, Florida.
Read More: Where is Katherine Magbanua Now?
