Closing Arguments Set For Co-Defendant in Buddhist Temple Murder Retrial

September 23, 2013

Closing arguments begin Monday in the retrial of a man accused of murdering nine people at Buddhist temple more than two decades ago. Johnathan Doody’s defense team rested its case last week without calling any witnesses. Prosecutors paid a lot of attention to the recorded confession of Doody’s friend and co-defendant Alessandro Garcia who entered a plea bargain and is serving a life sentence. After the 1991 murders, he said Doody masterminded the robbery at the Buddhist temple that left some monks and others dead.  

The then 16-year-old Garcia said Doody told him they should not leave any witnesses behind, but Doody maintained he was innocent, and his conviction was overturned after an appeals court determined that investigators who questioned him shortly after the crime did not properly advise him of his rights.  The murders drew international attention, because some of the monks killed were from Thailand.