On August 19, 2015, Luis Blanco, a 62-year-old male from Yonkers, New York, was scheduled to meet with a man who owed him money. This meeting would be his last. Blanco was reported missing that day, and a grim discovery five days later on August 24th would reveal his fate. A jogger running along Route 133 in the Town of Ossining stumbled upon a decomposing body by the side of the road.
An autopsy later confirmed the body was that of Luis Blanco and that he had been brutally murdered, having been stabbed multiple times in the head, neck, and torso, and also shot once in the back of the head.
An intensive investigation was launched by the Ossining and Yonkers Police Departments, along with the Westchester County District Attorney's Office. Their investigation led them to Joaquin Recinos Garcia, a 28-year-old from Yonkers who was in debt to Blanco. It was determined that on the day he disappeared, Blanco was picked up in Yonkers by Garcia in his Ford SUV. Garcia was not alone; an unindicted co-conspirator was also in the vehicle. Garcia informed Blanco that he could not repay the money he owed. When Blanco threatened to tell Garcia's employer about the debt, Garcia became enraged.
The situation escalated violently inside the vehicle. Garcia brandished a screwdriver and demanded all of Blanco's valuables before repeatedly stabbing him. The other man, who was in the back seat, then shot Blanco once in the back of the head. Garcia was arrested by the Ossining Village Police on September 18, 2015. In November 2015, Joaquin Recinos Garcia pleaded guilty to one count of Murder in the First Degree. He was subsequently sentenced to twenty years to life in prison. The involvement of the unindicted co-conspirator was noted by prosecutors, though their identity and legal status were not publicly detailed.
