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At the morning of Sunday, Nov. 9, 1996, the owner of Swanky Frank's in Norwalk on Connecticut Avenue arrived at the rear building of his business on the second floor for some supplies when he discovered the battered body of Garcia, 28, and called 911, according to Norwalk police.
Garcia had done odd jobs for the owner and had been staying in the office/storage area for the past few days. Investigators also learned that Garcia had been staying with several other males at an apartment on Van Zant Street until they put him and another man out for not paying their share of the rent, police said.
The investigation developed a suspect, Edgardo “Chiclets” Moreno-Miramon of Acaxtlahuacan, Puebla, Mexico, based on circumstantial evidence, according to Norwalk police.
It was determined that Moreno was also staying in the office area with Garcia the night before his murder, police said.
Investigators were able to produce a photo of Moreno, and he was positively identified as being thrown out of the Van Zant Street apartment with Garcia days earlier, according to Norwalk police.
In 2004, Detective Art Weisgerber assumed the Cold Case homicide investigation and began conducting interviews of people on phone documents and the former roommates of Garcia, police said.
During these interviews, two former roommates now admitted that at around 4 a.m. on Nov. 9, 1996, Moreno arrived at his former apartment and told one individual that he needed money to get to New York because he killed Garcia, according to Norwalk police.
A second individual stated he overheard the conversation between Moreno and the first individual, and that Moreno stated in Spanish that “he broke” Garcia, police said.
The second individual also he said he was in Mexico in 2002, and Moreno threatened to kill him if he spoke with the police about Garcia’s death, according to Norwalk police.
Weisgerber submitted an arrest warrant application charging Moreno with the murder of Garcia in 2007, police said.
During the review process, it was requested that the two witnesses be located for an interview by the State’s Attorney Office before a warrant was issued, according to Norwalk police.
At that time, it was learned that the first individual who had the conversation with Moreno had moved to Chicago and died due to medical issues. The second individual was not located at that time either. Subsequently the arrest warrant was not issued, police said.
Any of Garcia's former roommates in 1996 with any information they may have and for anybody who knows the current location of Moreno are asked to contact Lt. Art Weisgerber of the Cold Case Unit at (203)-854-3028 or aweisgerber@norwalkct.org.
Anonymous Internet tips can be sent through the Norwalk police website at www.norwalkpd.com.
Anonymous text tips can be submitted by typing “NPD” into the text field, followed by the message and sending it to CRIMES (274637)
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