Even the most seasoned Los Angeles homicide detectives were stunned by the scene inside Room 66 of the Continental Hotel. The fleabag establishment, a grim fixture on the city's notorious Skid Row, was no stranger to despair, but the discovery on November 28, 2010, revealed a new depth of depravity.
A Smorgasbord of Gore in a Skid Row Flophouse
A hotel maid, noticing something amiss, alerted the manager. What they found was a sickening smorgasbord of gore. A pair of severed arms, bound with duct tape, lay in the room. A heavy backpack was filled with reams of human flesh. Under the bed was a man's torso, a canvas of scratches and small puncture wounds, indicating the victim had endured hours of torture before death.
The room also contained a syringe, bags with methamphetamine residue, a box of Hot Tamales candy, and blood-soaked men's and women's underwear. Sitting on the bed was a Los Angeles Lakers hat, left behind like a grim tombstone. Police quickly determined the murder was planned, ritualistic, and profoundly evil.
The Good Samaritan Who Trusted the Wrong People
The victim was identified as Herbert Tracy White, a 48-year-old former cocaine addict who had turned his life around to become an Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous sponsor. Standing 6-foot-5 and trained in martial arts, White was known as a compassionate man who would help anyone in need.
His wife, Annie Coty-White, told investigators that her husband received a call around midnight on the night he vanished. Someone needed help. True to his nature, Herbert put on his prized Lakers hat and left. He had met a desperate couple at a Hollywood Chase Bank the day before, listened to their tale of woe about drug addiction and poverty, and gave them his number. He even drove them to the Continental Hotel and paid for their room.
The Twisted Couple and a "Bloodbath" Fantasy
After a week of investigation, police identified the suspects as Edward Garcia Jr., 36, and his wife, Melissa Hope Garcia, 25, methamphetamine addicts from York, Pennsylvania. The couple had fled the scene via a fire escape. U.S. Marshals later found them hiding in an abandoned building.
At Edward Garcia's trial in May 2015, prosecutors painted a horrifying picture. Deputy District Attorney John McKinney stated that after a brief struggle, White was incapacitated, his wrists duct-taped. The Garcias then dragged him onto the bed and began making non-fatal cuts to his face while he was still alive. "It was a bloodbath," McKinney told the jury, explaining it was part of the couple's long-held fantasy to dismember a body. White was nearly drained of blood before being fatally stabbed in the neck and dismembered with a 3.5-inch knife.
The defence argued White had brought drugs to the room and wanted sex with Melissa Garcia, suggesting the situation was more complicated. However, Edward Garcia himself had confessed in a video shown to the jury, stating, "I wish that it wasn't me in that room – but it was. I did that."
Life Sentences for Unfathomable Evil
The jury returned a guilty verdict for first-degree murder. At sentencing, Judge Larry P. Fidler, shaking his head, remarked that he thought he had seen it all in his career. "I was wrong," he said, before sentencing Edward Garcia to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He described the crime as going beyond belief. Melissa Garcia was also convicted and received a 16-year prison sentence.
The murder of Herbert Tracy White remains a stark reminder of the darkness that can lurk behind a plea for help, and a case that left an indelible mark on the Los Angeles justice system.
