The Latest: Garcia's family members say they're in shock
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The Latest on the sentencing of a former doctor convicted of killing four people connected to a Nebraska medical school (all times local):
6:20 p.m.
Relatives of a former doctor sentenced to death for the killings of four people tied to a Nebraska medical school say they still have a hard time believing he did it.
The father of 45-year-old Anthony Garcia, who was sentenced Friday, said tearfully that he's still in shock. His son fatally stabbed the 11-year-old son of a Creighton University School of Medicine faculty in 2008 and also killed the family's housekeeper. Garcia also was found guilty in the 2013 Mother's Day deaths of another Creighton pathology doctor and his wife in their Omaha home. Prosecutors say the killings were revenge for Garcia being fired from the school's pathology residency program in 2001.
Garcia's brother, Fernando Garcia of California, said it was hard for his family to imagine his brother committing the crimes. He says his family prays for the families of the victims and that "we hope they find peace somehow."
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5:30 p.m.
The son of one of four people killed by a former doctor in Nebraska says he still sees images from the graphic courtroom photos of what happened to his mother.
Jeff Sherman spoke to a three-judge panel Friday before 45-year-old Anthony Garcia was sentenced to death . The Indiana man was convicted of killing Sherman's mother and four others during two attacks five years apart.
The victims were all connected to Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha. Garcia was fired from a residency program at the school in 2001.
Sherman's mother, Shirlee Sherman, was a housekeeper for the family of 11-year-old Thomas Hunter. She and the boy were fatally stabbed in 2008. Hunter's father, Dr. William Hunter, was a pathologist at the university who helped fire Garcia.
Thomas' mother, Dr. Claire Hunter, says the pain of losing her young son so violently continues.
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4:15 p.m.
The sentencing of a former doctor convicted of killing four people in Nebraska was briefly delayed after the lead judge in the case suffered a medical emergency.
A three-judge panel issued a death sentence Friday to 45-year-old Anthony Garcia. The Indiana man was convicted of murder for two attacks five years apart that targeted people connected to Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha.
Garcia was fired in 2001 from the university's pathology residency program.
Douglas County District Judge Gary Randall was reading a timeline of the case when his voice began trembling. He halted the proceedings and was helped into his chambers. He was later carried from the courthouse on a stretcher.
The hearing continued about 30 minutes later over the objection of Garcia's attorneys. Gage County District Judge Rick Schreiner read the sentence.
Schreiner says Randall underwent a medical procedure this week that caused him extreme back pain.
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3 p.m.
A former doctor convicted in the revenge killings of four people connected to a Nebraska medical school has been sentenced to death.
A three-judge panel on Friday sentenced 45-year-old Anthony Garcia of Terre Haute, Indiana. The judges heard arguments earlier this year during his trial's sentencing phase.
Garcia was convicted in two attacks that occurred five years apart.
Investigators say that in 2008, he fatally stabbed 11-year-old Thomas Hunter, the son of Creighton University School of Medicine faculty member William Hunter. Garcia also killed the family's housekeeper, 57-year-old Shirlee Sherman, in the family's Omaha home.
Garcia also was found guilty in the 2013 Mother's Day deaths of another Creighton pathology doctor, Roger Brumback, and his wife, Mary, in their Omaha home.
Prosecutors say Garcia blamed Hunter and Brumback for his 2001 firing from Creighton's pathology residency program.
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7:30 a.m.
A former doctor found guilty of what prosecutors described as the revenge killing of four people connected to a Nebraska medical school where he once worked is facing life in prison or the death penalty.
Anthony Garcia, of Terre Haute, Indiana, was convicted of fatally stabbing 11-year-old Thomas Hunter, son of Creighton University School of Medicine faculty member William Hunter, and the family's housekeeper, 57-year-old Shirlee Sherman, in 2008.
Garcia also was found guilty of two other killings five years later: the 2013 Mother's Day deaths of another Creighton pathology doctor Roger Brumback, and his wife, Mary, in their Omaha home.
Prosecutors say Garcia blamed Hunter and Brumback for his firing from Creighton's pathology residency program in 2001.
A three-judge panel is expected to sentence Garcia on Friday.