Press Release
Rhadames Marmolejos Guilty in 2019 Slaying of Oscar Garcia
July 30, 2026
(Anchorage, AK) – On July 22, 2026, an Anchorage jury found defendant Rhadames Marmolejos guilty of Murder in the Second Degree and Robbery in the First Degree for shooting and killing Oscar Garcia. Marmolejos was acquitted on charges of Murder in the First Degree and Kidnapping.
Mr. Garcia’s body was found abandoned in the front passenger seat of a red Kia Soul parked on the 4000 block of Merrill Drive on Nov. 3, 2019. Shell casings from two firearms were found in the vehicle. An autopsy found that Mr. Garcia had suffered thirteen gunshot wounds. Anchorage Police Department conducted an investigation led by Sergeant Jade Baker. That investigation determined that Mr. Garcia was shot and killed in the vehicle on Nov. 2, 2019, outside the former Executive Suites hotel in Spenard, in a botched attempt to collect a $550 drug debt that he owed to Marmolejos and co-defendant Elijah Ramirez.
The State’s trial case against Marmolejos was based on eyewitness testimony, surveillance video, text messages, phone location data, and Marmolejos’ self-serving and false statements to investigators. Sergeant. Nathan Bucknall, of the Alaska Bureau of Investigation Technical and Financial Crimes Unit, provided invaluable assistance with mapping the locations of the cell phones involved over the course of the night in question.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney C. Travis Atkinson of the Anchorage District Attorney’s Office Homicide Unit and Assistant Attorney General Michael Ebell of the Criminal Division Central Office, in collaboration with paralegal Tanna Severson.
Marmolejos’ sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 29, 2027. Ramirez, who was tried separately, and also found guilty of second-degree murder, is due to be sentenced on Oct. 1, 2026. Sentence will be imposed by the trial judge for both proceedings, the Hon. Jack McKenna of Anchorage Superior Court.
CONTACT: Assistant District Attorney C. Travis Atkinson at (907) 269-6300 or Travis.Atkinson@alaska.gov.
# # #
Department Media Contact: Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.
Due to resource constraints, we no longer post links to referenced records. Records filed in a federal court are readily available at Docket Search or PACER, and records filed in a State of Alaska court are readily available from the Alaska Court System (Trial Courts - Alaska Court System and Search for an Appellate Case). Contact Sam Curtis to request a referenced record that is not readily available from a court or on the internet, or contact law.recordsrequest@alaska.gov to submit a formal Alaska Public Records Act request.