A murder conviction has been returned in the 1996 killing of a successful businessman, the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office said.
Hector U. Garay, who was convicted Thursday, had been hiding in El Salvador since the killing 22 years ago, the DA’s office said. He will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.
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Garay, 52, was found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony after a four-day trial.
The victim, Adalberto Salinas, and his wife, Francisca Salinas, were at home in Gwinnett County on the night of Jan. 21, 1996 when they heard a knock at the door. Adalberto Salinas answered and was shot twice. He died from the gunshot wounds, the DA’s office said.
“A few days” after the killing, the Gwinnett County Police Department received a tip that, before the killing, Garay had tried to get another man to help him rob Adalberto Salinas, who ran multiple successful businesses along Buford Highway. That man told police Garay had confessed to the killing and planned to flee the country.
Police later learned that Garay had fled the state, first to Texas and then to his native country of El Salvador. Garay remained in El Salvador until 2017, when he was arrested while trying to enter Honduras. Garay was extradited to the U.S. in 2018 and arrested on charges related to Adalberto Salinas’ killing.
Francisca Salinas, who witnessed Adalberto Salinas’ death, died in 2007, more than 10 years before Garay could be charged. Her children testified at trial about what Francisca Sainas saw the night of the murder, the DA’s office said.
Garay testified in his own defense, first saying that he was being framed and then arguing that he had “mental problems and “the mind of a child” that allowed him to be “taken advantage of,” the DA’s office said.
Garay’s sentencing has been deferred until Jan. 8, 2020. In Georgia, those convicted of murder can only be sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole or without the possibility of parole. That means the minimum amount of time Garay would serve is 30 years; those with life sentences and the possibility of parole must serve 30 years in prison before being considered for parole.
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