Agustin Garcia is behind bars for murdering his ex-girlfriend, Gladys Ricart, on her wedding day in Ridgefield, New Jersey.
Just before 4 p.m. on Sept. 26, 1999, Ricart, who worked as an accountant, and her nine bridesmaids were taking pictures in the living room of her home, according to the Daily Record.
Ricart was arrayed in a white wedding dress with a lace top and a tiara, while her bridesmaids were clad in pale green dresses.
The 39-year-old was to board a limousine that was scheduled to transport them to a church in Flushing, Queens, where she was going to marry James Preston Jr., also an accountant.
Before she was able to leave her home, her ex-boyfriend, who had driven from his home in the Washington Heights neighborhood to Ricart’s house, walked in and began shooting.
Ricart began dating Garcia, a prominent Dominican-American businessman from North Bergen, in 1992 after meeting him on the subway.
Throughout their seven-year relationship, Garcia helped her buy a house and took her to “high-profile events, political fund-raisers at the Waldorf-Astoria, receptions at the Gracie Mansion, and cruises to the Bahamas,” according to the NY Times.
But in the midst of it all, Ricart wasn’t happy.
It was reported that Garcia was violent and abusive, but when she caught him cheating at his office with her best friend, she ended their relationship.
One of her friends said, “Everyone knew that he had other women. She was often upset with him.”
Shortly after their breakup, Ricart met another man, Preston, while buying lunch near her place of employment in the Flatiron District.
From that moment on, she was purportedly happy and eager to marry Preston someday, whom she would refer to as “awesome.”
After dating for two months, he proposed, and she said yes.
On her wedding invitation, Ricart wrote: “This day, I will marry the one who loves me without end, the one who brightens my life and gives love a new meaning. The one who shares my dreams.”
Superior Court Judge William Meehan said, “It should have been one of the happiest days of her life. Instead, it was the last day of her life.”
While Ricart was busy moving on with her life, Garcia wasn’t over their breakup. He stalked her and constantly called her at her job and home, asking for another chance at their relationship.
Ricart wasn’t interested.
One day, he went to her home while her fiance was there and began banging on the doors and windows.
Although the incident was reported to the police, Ricart rejected the idea of pressing charges.
Therefore, the harassment continued.
Garcia left a bible on her doorstep and white roses on her front lawn, which reportedly symbolize death in the Dominican community, Investigation Discovery reported.
He had also contacted her son’s college and informed school administrators that Ricart had lied on his financial aid forms.
Garcia’s attorney, Fernando Oliver, stated that despite what his client had done, Ricart never filed a restraining order against him, which led him to believe that they were still seeing each other.
Her friends stated that if that was the case, it was only out of fear and the fact that she still cared for him. A co-worker said, “You have to understand Ricart. She was the sweetest, kindest person, with a heart of gold.”
“She had found a man she was in love with, and she just wanted Agustin to get on with his life. They were together so long, she felt like she had an obligation to him.”
On the day of Ricart’s wedding, Garcia was dressed in a suit, and he was carrying a briefcase.
He entered her house and told her relatives and friends that he was an invited guest and that he wanted to send well wishes to the bride-to-be.
One friend said, “I thought it was weird for him to be here, but I thought maybe he was congratulating her. He wasn’t a street thug, but an educated, respected man.”
Garcia pushed through the crowd and made his way to the living room area, where Ricart was giving bouquets to her bridesmaids and getting ready to leave.
He took a .38-caliber revolver out of his briefcase and fired five shots at Ricart.
She was shot three times: once in the head, once in the spine, and once in the upper arm, according to an autopsy report.
When Garcia tried to reload the gun, he was tackled to the floor by Ricart’s brother, who detained him until police arrived and arrested him.
Garcia was booked into the Bergen County Jail, where he was held on a $5 million bond.
The assistant Bergen County prosecutor, James Santulli, asked Judge Meehan for a higher bond. He thought Garcia was a flight risk because he had connections with the Dominican Republic and a travel agency.
At the trial, Garcia’s lawyers hoped for a manslaughter conviction.
They contended that Ricart and Garcia were still romantically involved and had sexual intercourse three days before the shooting occurred.
When he found out that Ricart was getting married, he became temporarily insane.
But after watching a 10-minute video of Ricart’s fatal shooting, which was captured by a guest, a Bergen County Superior Court jury rejected the “crime of passion” defense and found Garcia guilty of first-degree murder.
In 2002, he was sentenced at the Bergen County Courthouse to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years.
Garcia subsequently filed three appeals to amend his sentence.
According to NJ, “He argued that prosecutorial misconduct and other errors had denied him his right to a fair trial and that he had received inadequate assistance from his own lawyers.”
All three of his appeals were rejected.
Ricart’s body was flown to the Dominican Republic Cemetery, where she was buried in her wedding dress.
In 2001, the Brides March was created to remember Ricart and to raise awareness of domestic violence. It is an annual event where women from all over the world come together and march while clad in wedding dresses.