them what they re looking for answers from you that you can t give them, you know? reporter: tough for you guys, too, because i m sure you want to keep working on this. meanwhile yes. reporter: your boss is saying, here s another case. and another one. and another one. yeah. and that s why it went to the cold case unit. reporter: and that s how it stayed until may of 2013. the breakthrough moment came in brutal form, yet another double homicide in omaha. for detectives who d been at the hunter home five years earlier, this one felt uncomfortably familiar. it was like, oh, my gosh. this could very easily be related to the dundee homicides. coming up it was a jolt of electricity and a big hit of deja vu. you could see the female victim lying in the living room. it was very clear there had been a struggle from all of the
shreveport in 2008. was he on his way to confront doctors there? only anthony garcia knows. he clammed up when omaha detectives tried to talk with him. we introduced ourselves as detectives from the omaha police department and that we were investigating homicides in our jurisdiction, and mr. garcia immediately asked for an attorney. that s it? and that s it. i mean, at that point as an investigator, i can t continue questioning. reporter: later that afternoon, omaha police chief todd schmaderer stepped before the cameras to make the announcement that his city had been desperately waiting to hear. arrested this morning was dr. anthony joseph garcia for four counts of first degree murder and use of a weapon to commit the murders. reporter: for the families of roger and mary brumback of tom hunter and of shirlee sherman, the arrest was very welcome news. i m at walmart with my kids,
as a clear attempt to send information to potential jurors that the state s case was suspect. as a result the trial was postponed again, and the judge effectively kicked alison motta off the case. the judge denies her application to practice in the state of nebraska, very controversial move. it was just i spoke to the public, and that put, you know, information that could ve, you know, been information to potential jurors, and that violated the pretrial publicity rule. reporter: the mottas wanted to fight alison s removal, but what their client anthony garcia apparently wanted was a trial. when the mottas appealed over his objection, anthony garcia completely stopped talking with his own lawyers. he d deteriorated mentally, coming into the trial to the extent where he really hadn t i mean, he didn t say one word to us. this guy s mental state at that point was just gone.
within the next minute he says, but it sounds like what they re actually arresting him for is murder, so then obviously my interest was piqued. reporter: it was a stroke of luck. anthony garcia s family had been cold calling lawyers looking for someone to defend anthony. bob motta was the first to call back. it was 2:00 a.m. california time when he got anthony garcia s brother on the phone. 30 minutes later, bob motta was retained to handle his first murder case. i go upstairs. i wake my wife up, who is my law partner, alison motta. and i m, like, we got a murder case. we gotta get up and go to jackson county. you gotta find a sitter for the kids. reporter: when anthony garcia s extradition hearing came up the next day, the mottas, mr. and mrs. were seated at the defense table. you are basically consenting to the authorities from nebraska to take you back to that state to deal with these charges. do you understand that? absolutely understand. i m not going to answer any
reporter: what started as the american dream was turning into something unthinkable. if convicted of murdering four people, dr. anthony garcia, now 40 years old, faced the death penalty. his alleged motive, revenge for getting bad job recommendations. coming up woke my wife up. we got a murder case and got to get to jackson county, got to find a sitter for the kids. a husband and wife defense team. big city lawyers with a few big surprises. there were so many other people with mean, motive and opportunity that could have committed this crime. when dateline continues. n s oh, come on. flo: don t worry. you re covered. (dramatic music)