A forensic pathologist testified Tuesday in Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Lompoc that 68-year-old Joseph Michael Garcia died from severe burns, not the host of other medical issues he had.
Dr. Manny Montez of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau took the witness stand Tuesday afternoon to testify about the autopsy he performed on the victim.
Garcia’s son, Joseph Ashley Garcia, 43, of Lompoc, has been charged with murder along with a special circumstance of torture plus felony animal cruelty and an allegation for use of a deadly weapon…