Hudson Valley Man Pleads Guilty to Killing 62-Year-Old Man

A Hudson Valley man plead guilty to the stabbing and shooting death of a 62-year-old man.

Monday in Westchester County Court, 27-year-old Joaquin Recinos Garcia, of Yonkers plead guilty to 1st-degree murder.

On August 24, 2015, a jogger running along Route 133 in the Town of Ossining found the decomposing body of Luis Blanco, 62, of Yonkers. An autopsy determined that Blanco had been stabbed multiple times in the head, neck, and torso. He also suffered a bullet wound to the back of his head.

An intensive investigation was carried out by the Ossining Police Department, the Yonkers Police Department, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office and the Westchester County Department of Laboratories and Research.

Their investigation revealed that Garcia owed the victim money. Blanco was scheduled to meet with Garcia on August 19, 2015, the day the victim went missing.

Authorities determined that Garcia and an unknown co-conspirator, picked up Blanco in Garcia’s vehicle on August 19. Garcia told Blanco that he could not pay him the money he owed. When Blanco threatened to inform Garcia’s employer, Garcia became angry, brandished a screwdriver and demanded Blanco hand over all his valuables.

Garcia then proceeded to stab the victim multiple times. The other man in the back seat of the SUV then shot Blanco once in the back of the head.

Garcia was remanded to Westchester County Jail. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison without parole when sentenced on September 8.