HACKENSACK, N.J. — A New Jersey man faces up to life in prison after being convicted of killing and dismembering another man whom authorities say was his live-in boyfriend.
Jurors deliberated for less than two hours in Hackensack Tuesday before pronouncing Pedro Garcia guilty of murder and disturbing the remains of a victim.
Prosecutors alleged the 36-year-old Garcia was in a relationship with Francisco Gonzalez Fuentes but became enraged when Fuentes “outed” him by telling others that the two were romantically linked.
Authorities said Fuentes was stabbed to death in January 2011 and his body was cut up by Garcia and another man and put in five garbage bags that were dumped in different locations.
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The Record reports Garcia denied during the trial that he was gay and implied the killing was fueled by passion.
The defense implied that the killing was manslaughter — which carries a maximum prison term of 10 years — rather than murder, which carries a life sentence.
