Gladys Ricart was on the edge of the wedding she had always dreamed about and was about to make the journey to the church to wed James Preston Jr. when she was killed within her home. The police later discovered that the killer was able to break into Gladys’s living space and killed her in cold blood as she was handing bridal bouquets to her maid of honour.
Investigation Discovery’s “Primal Instinct: Red Wedding” exposes the brutal murder and describes how law enforcement officers finally identified the perpetrator. If you’re intrigued by this story and want to know the location of Gladys, the murderer, We’ve got the answer for you.
How Did Gladys Ricart Die?
In Ridgefield, New Jersey, resident Gladys Ricart was extremely excited about her wedding day and couldn’t wait to be married to James Preston Jr., the love of her life. The people who met Gladys identified her as a laid-back person who was enthralled by life and had big goals for her future. She was also very generous and loved helping others who were in need. Her loved ones loved her by family members and her friends. Gladys’ horrifying death is hard to accept until this day.
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On September 26 1999, 39-year-old Gladys Ricart was getting ready for a drive to the church to be married. She was already in her wedding gown and was in the midst of handing bouquets of flowers to her bridal party. People who saw her said she was beaming with joy at the time and was eager to cross the line to pledge all of their life to their partner. There was a feeling of celebration in the house, and family members did not know about the horror that was about to enter through the doorway.
At the height of festivities, an elegant man dressed in a suit and tie aged in his late fifties walked through the front door, claiming that he had come to offer his very best greetings to Gladys. In no way thinking of it, did their family let him in, and he stumbled upon the bride in her living area. Before Gladys could recognize the stranger in the briefcase in his hand, he took out a .38 calibre revolver and then shot the bride three times in front of all her family members.
Who was the killer of Gladys Ricart?
As Gladys was lying on the ground after having suffered three gunshot wounds, those who witnessed the shooting did not waste time alerting authorities. Emergency personnel immediately arrived at the Ricart home. However, the victim was already passing through them. She was lying in a bloody pool in the living room, and an autopsy confirmed that bullet wounds had caused her death.
The attacker, Augustin Garcia, was arrested immediately. According to the story, Garcia was Gladys’ ex-boyfriend. However, the couple broke up months before the murder after the bride’s ex-boyfriend was cheating on her. But, Garcia did not take the breakup well and was angry that his ex was getting married at such a young age. In a fit of jealousy, Garcia got a gun and made the terrible decision to end Gladys’s wedding day. However, with multiple eye-witnesses that placed Garcia on the scene, and the weapon used in the murder being in the custody of authorities, they were able to arrest and indict Augustin Garcia for murder.
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Where is Augustin Garcia Today?
After being brought to Court, Augustin Garcia pled not guilty and stated that Gladys’s wedding ceremony shook him to a state of temporary madness. But the jury was unable to come to an agreement and convict Garcia of murder in the first degree. This led to his conviction. In 2002 the judge sentenced him to life imprisonment with an initial sentence of 30 years prior to parole. After his conviction, Garcia tried to have his conviction thrown out but without success. So, he’s still in jail in the East Jersey State Prison in Woodbridge, New Jersey, and is eligible to be paroled in 2029.
