Jordan Joplin, right inset, was sentenced to a maximum of 99 years in prison for the 2017 killing of his romantic partner of six years, Eric Garcia, left inset. (Screenshots from Alaska’s News Source/YouTube)
A man who prosecutors said faked his love for his Alaska surgeon boyfriend will spend the rest of his life in prison for poisoning the man with a fatal cocktail of drugs and having 4,000 pounds of his valuables shipped to his home in Washington state, where he called police to report he was worried for his partner’s welfare.
Jordan Joplin, 39, was sentenced to a maximum of 99 years in prison for the 2017 killing of his romantic partner of six years, Eric Garcia, 58. A jury found Joplin guilty last year of first and second-degree murder and first-degree theft.
“Joplin, you’ve made your decision. You have chosen your fate,” the victim’s brother, Saul Garcia, said in court, Alaska Public Media reported. “I’m here today to seek justice for Eric and collect on all of your failed gambles. To ensure your unconscious wish of becoming imprisoned for life becomes a reality. I’m here for that.”
Eric Garcia’s sister said in a statement through the prosecutor that her brother was selfless.
“Eric didn’t have a lot of time for himself — he was working more hours than he could physically deal with,” she wrote, the news outlet reported.
Through his attorney, Joplin denied his involvement in the murder.
“Mr. Joplin has asked me to note that he acknowledges Dr. Garcia’s death and the effect it had on the family and Dr. Garcia’s friends and the community of Ketchikan and that he maintains his innocence of the crime,” his lawyer, Lars Johnson, read, according to the news outlet.
Assistant Attorney General Erin McCarthy asked for the harshest sentence possible.
“The domestic, intimate relationship Mr. Joplin fabricated between himself and Dr. Garcia is not only a factor to consider, but it is as much the murder weapon as the poison Mr. Joplin ultimately used to kill the man who loved him,” McCarthy said. “Perhaps the most horrific part of this crime is how Dr. Garcia wholly gave his heart to Mr. Joplin. While for Mr. Joplin, Dr. Garcia was disposable.”
In his sentencing remarks, Superior Court Judge Michael Wolverton said the case stood out in his 40 years of experience due to the intentional and careful planning of the murder. He called Joplin’s conduct brazen and craven, prosecutors said in a news release.
Joplin killed Garcia with a toxic mix of morphine, methadone, diazepam and lorazepam at Garcia’s home in Ketchikan on March 17, 2017, and left his body there, prosecutors said.
He loaded three shipping containers he had arranged to be delivered to Garcia’s home that day with 4,000 pounds of Garcia’s most valuable stuff — electronics, a coin collection, $50,000 in watches and jewelry, and a $320,000 liquor collection. Joplin then shipped all 4,000 pounds of it to his residence in Washington. He also transferred more than $30,000 from Garcia’s bank accounts to his accounts between March 16 and 30, authorities said.
Before he took Garcia’s truck to the airport to return to Washington, he took a cellphone video of Garcia, who appeared to be unconscious.
Once back in Washington, Joplin called the Ketchikan Police Department, reporting he was expecting Garcia to be in Washington for a visit, but he didn’t show up and was worried because he hadn’t heard from him.
Joplin returned to Ketchikan on March 27, 2017, and asked the police to conduct a welfare check on Garcia.
Police discovered Garcia’s body after Joplin, using Garcia’s keys, let police inside the home.
In her closing arguments, McCarthy summed up the case.
“He killed Dr. Eric Garcia, a man who loved and trusted him, and he did it for money,” she said.
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