THE DARK SIDE OF NEBRASKA
Christopher Garza
#41853
photo courtesy NDCS
Full Name: Christopher M. Garza
DOB: May 23, 1973
Charge: 1st degree murder
County: Douglas
City: Omaha
Current Status: Tecumseh State Correctional Institution
Partner in Crime: Wayne Brewer
Date of Crime: March 21, 1990
Victim: Christina O'Day
DOB: May 23, 1973
Charge: 1st degree murder
County: Douglas
City: Omaha
Current Status: Tecumseh State Correctional Institution
Partner in Crime: Wayne Brewer
Date of Crime: March 21, 1990
Victim: Christina O'Day
When she was killed on March 21, 1990, Christina O'Day was a 17-year old high school senior. Christopher Garza, then 16 years old, and Wayne K. Brewer, the other individual involved, was 18.
Beginning in March 1989, Christina's employer started working the night shift and thus arranged for Christina to spend the night at her house to take care of her 8-year old daughter. Christina would drive to the employer's house between 10:45 and 11:10 PM, and park her car in the garage; the employer would then go to work. On Mondays, the employer usually attended a university class from 7:00 to 9:45 PM and would go to work directly from the University.
Christopher had met Wayne in February 1990, at a local fast-food restaurant where they both worked. Shortly thereafter, the two became friends and began to do things together on a regular basis. Christopher claimed that on Monday, March 19, 1990, he and Wayne went to visit with Christopher's mother. Since it appeared his mother was asleep, Christopher drove out of the area, but missed a turn and ended up on the street where Christina was babysitting. He then saw Christina pulling into her employer's driveway and decided to stop and visit with her. Wayne, however, testified that Christina had not just pulled into her employer's driveway, but that Christopher had actually driven by the employer's house before turning around and stopping.
Christopher knew Christina from school and claimed to have been a former boyfriend. He also knew that Christina babysat overnight during the week. At 11:10 PM, Christopher and Wayne rang the doorbell and Christina answered. She asked Christopher what he was doing and told him to leave. Wayne and Christopher then left. The employer, who happened to be home on this particular Monday night, had heard the doorbell ring thinking it was strange that someone would come to the house that late, and stood at the top of the stairs in order to see who was at the door and was able to identify Christopher as that person.
The following Tuesday night, March 20, or early Wednesday morning on March 21, while driving to the area, Christopher asked Wayne if he wanted to "rob" the employer's house. Wayne and Christopher agreed to the plan, knowing full well that Christina and the employer's daughter would be in the house. Christopher and Wayne then returned to the employer's house at approximately 2:30 AM on the morning of the 21st, with stealing as the avowed purpose.
After cutting the outside phone line, Christopher broke in through a basement window and let Wayne in through the front door. Wayne claims he immediately began looking for things to steal in the living and dining rooms. Wayne stated that sometime thereafter, he "heard the door open... looked down the hall and saw Christopher and Christina go into the employer's daughter's room and told her to go back to sleep." Thus, it appears that Christopher had gone to the upper level of the house as Wayne then states that sometime later, Christopher went downstairs and told Wayne to "go have some fun." Wayne asserts that he originally refused to go upstairs, but after Christopher mocked him, he went into the bedroom. He found Christina on the bed, hands tied and over her head, and gagged with a scarf and hat but had no injuries. Wayne claims he was in the room for only five to ten minutes, during which time he sexually assaulted Christina. Wayne then went back downstairs and sat on the couch. Christopher returned to the bedroom, then went back downstairs and into the kitchen to get a 14-inch knife and returned to the bedroom.
As Christopher went back upstairs, Wayne asked him what he was doing but received no response. Apparently, a few seconds later, Wayne went upstairs and stood in the bedroom where he saw Christopher pulling away from Christina and "blood spurting in the air." Christopher and Wayne went back downstairs and left the house. According to Wayne, he and Christopher then drove in Christina's car to a location where the stolen items were placed in Christopher's car. Christina's car was then taken and pushed into the Missouri river. The stolen items were later discarded.
The employer's daughter testified that she woke up at 2:30 AM because she heard crying coming from the bedroom where Christina slept, but that when her door was opened, she only saw one man. The daughter stated that for the next three hours, she heard "whispering, crying [and her] birdcage door slam and bird squeaking." She also "heard footsteps...the door slam when they were leaving, and the garage door open and shut."
When the coroner arrived, he saw Christina's body lying partially out of the bed in a face-down position. "[The body] was underneath the comforter when I first walked into the bedroom. And when the comforter was removed, the body was face down on the abdomen and the back being visible. And the blue scarf and white hat initially were over her mouth and nose. And there was also pantyhose and a red strap of some type bound around both lower -- both feet."
The autopsy revealed numerous injuries: a deep blunt injury between the eyebrows and upper portion of the nose, petechial hemorrhages around the neck caused by an electrical cord, a laceration on the inside surface of the upper lip, a blackened left eye which is a result of hemorrhaging in that soft tissue that surrounds the eye, injuries caused by vaginal and anal penetration, two dark linear-pattern bruises on the right back side, a bruise on the left shoulder, and a bruise over the right hip. According to the pathologist, none of the injuries were life-threatening and were caused while Christina was still alive. There was also a large gaping laceration on the right wrist which extended to the bone, severing all of the superficial tendons as well as producing a 90% laceration of the radial artery and a nick in the ulnar artery. In addition, there were seven superficial lacerations on the wrists. Pathologists reported that the large wrist laceration was inflicted while Christina was alive and continued to bleed profusely until she died.
In the pathologist's opinion, Christina died as a result of three injuries, any one of which, alone, could have killed her: bleeding to death from the laceration on her wrist; strangulation as a result of the scarf, hat and electrical cord tightly wrapped around her neck, or asphyxiation caused by the scarf and hat covering the mouth and nose and also by the position of her body lying halfway out of the bed with her face turned against the carpet.
If Wayne's testimony that he and Christopher left the house immediately after Christopher inflicted the wrist laceration and the daughter's testimony that the two left at 3:30 AM are accurate, Christina would have suffered for almost three hours before dying.
Beginning in March 1989, Christina's employer started working the night shift and thus arranged for Christina to spend the night at her house to take care of her 8-year old daughter. Christina would drive to the employer's house between 10:45 and 11:10 PM, and park her car in the garage; the employer would then go to work. On Mondays, the employer usually attended a university class from 7:00 to 9:45 PM and would go to work directly from the University.
Christopher had met Wayne in February 1990, at a local fast-food restaurant where they both worked. Shortly thereafter, the two became friends and began to do things together on a regular basis. Christopher claimed that on Monday, March 19, 1990, he and Wayne went to visit with Christopher's mother. Since it appeared his mother was asleep, Christopher drove out of the area, but missed a turn and ended up on the street where Christina was babysitting. He then saw Christina pulling into her employer's driveway and decided to stop and visit with her. Wayne, however, testified that Christina had not just pulled into her employer's driveway, but that Christopher had actually driven by the employer's house before turning around and stopping.
Christopher knew Christina from school and claimed to have been a former boyfriend. He also knew that Christina babysat overnight during the week. At 11:10 PM, Christopher and Wayne rang the doorbell and Christina answered. She asked Christopher what he was doing and told him to leave. Wayne and Christopher then left. The employer, who happened to be home on this particular Monday night, had heard the doorbell ring thinking it was strange that someone would come to the house that late, and stood at the top of the stairs in order to see who was at the door and was able to identify Christopher as that person.
The following Tuesday night, March 20, or early Wednesday morning on March 21, while driving to the area, Christopher asked Wayne if he wanted to "rob" the employer's house. Wayne and Christopher agreed to the plan, knowing full well that Christina and the employer's daughter would be in the house. Christopher and Wayne then returned to the employer's house at approximately 2:30 AM on the morning of the 21st, with stealing as the avowed purpose.
After cutting the outside phone line, Christopher broke in through a basement window and let Wayne in through the front door. Wayne claims he immediately began looking for things to steal in the living and dining rooms. Wayne stated that sometime thereafter, he "heard the door open... looked down the hall and saw Christopher and Christina go into the employer's daughter's room and told her to go back to sleep." Thus, it appears that Christopher had gone to the upper level of the house as Wayne then states that sometime later, Christopher went downstairs and told Wayne to "go have some fun." Wayne asserts that he originally refused to go upstairs, but after Christopher mocked him, he went into the bedroom. He found Christina on the bed, hands tied and over her head, and gagged with a scarf and hat but had no injuries. Wayne claims he was in the room for only five to ten minutes, during which time he sexually assaulted Christina. Wayne then went back downstairs and sat on the couch. Christopher returned to the bedroom, then went back downstairs and into the kitchen to get a 14-inch knife and returned to the bedroom.
As Christopher went back upstairs, Wayne asked him what he was doing but received no response. Apparently, a few seconds later, Wayne went upstairs and stood in the bedroom where he saw Christopher pulling away from Christina and "blood spurting in the air." Christopher and Wayne went back downstairs and left the house. According to Wayne, he and Christopher then drove in Christina's car to a location where the stolen items were placed in Christopher's car. Christina's car was then taken and pushed into the Missouri river. The stolen items were later discarded.
The employer's daughter testified that she woke up at 2:30 AM because she heard crying coming from the bedroom where Christina slept, but that when her door was opened, she only saw one man. The daughter stated that for the next three hours, she heard "whispering, crying [and her] birdcage door slam and bird squeaking." She also "heard footsteps...the door slam when they were leaving, and the garage door open and shut."
When the coroner arrived, he saw Christina's body lying partially out of the bed in a face-down position. "[The body] was underneath the comforter when I first walked into the bedroom. And when the comforter was removed, the body was face down on the abdomen and the back being visible. And the blue scarf and white hat initially were over her mouth and nose. And there was also pantyhose and a red strap of some type bound around both lower -- both feet."
The autopsy revealed numerous injuries: a deep blunt injury between the eyebrows and upper portion of the nose, petechial hemorrhages around the neck caused by an electrical cord, a laceration on the inside surface of the upper lip, a blackened left eye which is a result of hemorrhaging in that soft tissue that surrounds the eye, injuries caused by vaginal and anal penetration, two dark linear-pattern bruises on the right back side, a bruise on the left shoulder, and a bruise over the right hip. According to the pathologist, none of the injuries were life-threatening and were caused while Christina was still alive. There was also a large gaping laceration on the right wrist which extended to the bone, severing all of the superficial tendons as well as producing a 90% laceration of the radial artery and a nick in the ulnar artery. In addition, there were seven superficial lacerations on the wrists. Pathologists reported that the large wrist laceration was inflicted while Christina was alive and continued to bleed profusely until she died.
In the pathologist's opinion, Christina died as a result of three injuries, any one of which, alone, could have killed her: bleeding to death from the laceration on her wrist; strangulation as a result of the scarf, hat and electrical cord tightly wrapped around her neck, or asphyxiation caused by the scarf and hat covering the mouth and nose and also by the position of her body lying halfway out of the bed with her face turned against the carpet.
If Wayne's testimony that he and Christopher left the house immediately after Christopher inflicted the wrist laceration and the daughter's testimony that the two left at 3:30 AM are accurate, Christina would have suffered for almost three hours before dying.
Source: FindACase