TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – One of the prime suspects in a possible murder-for-hire plot of a beloved Florida State University professor was in court Friday.
The suspect's attorney said the state has no hard evidence and that his client should be a free man.
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Sigfredo Garcia, 34, was led into his bond hearing Friday morning in shackles. Garcia was indicted on first-degree murder charges, accused of carrying out the murder of Florida State University law professor Dan Markell in 2014.
His attorney, Jim Lewis, said he's innocent.
"We are entering a plea of not guilty," Lewis said.
But the state wants Garcia locked up while the investigation continues. Surveillance video released Friday shows Garcia apparently tailing Markell before the murder.
Court documents link Garcia and another man, Luis Rivera, to the family of the professor's ex-wife in a murder-for-hire plot.
More charges are expected in the case, but in the meantime, Garcia's attorney, said he should be a free man.
"All they've got are theories. No facts, no eyewitnesses, no physical evidence, no confessions, no statements," Lewis said.
The state is seeking the death penalty.
"As far as I know there's no DNA at the crime scene," Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman said. "I don't have a witness who will say, 'I saw Mr. Garcia who killed Mr. Markell,' so he's right to that extent, but there's a mountain of other evidence."
The bond hearing was pushed back possibly to as early as next week.
Rivera is already in federal prison in central Florida for an unrelated crime. Rivera originally told police he and Garcia were not in Tallahassee, but then changed his story to say they were.
