Volume 1 No. 4 The New Groveland Graphic serving Groveland, Mascotte/Green Swamp Area
date: December 30, 2011 new releases every two weeks
Mascotte's Murder roundup
by Linda Charlton
Graphic reporter
Dateline: Mascotte
It's not that Mascotte is a hotbed of murders and murderers - it's that,
as of late, there's been movement towards solving several murders cases that
have happened over a period of years. Mascotte police chief Steve Allen reviewed
the three cases in a recent interview.
The most recent murder happened in 2009, when Guradat Persaud was found beaten
to death at his car dealership on Myers Boulevard. Though not exactly a cold
case, it got a new lease on life about a month ago, when the Florida Department
of Law Enforcement lab came up with new evidence.
"We called and asked them to take a closer look," Chief Allen says, "and DNA was
obtained from his clothing. What we're hoping for is to find a match."
The search for a match is nationwide. As Allen explains it, the search is not as
cut-and-dried as it sounds, for different states have different practices when
it comes to entering DNA samples into databases. It is not possible to check one
database and know that you have covered all possibilities.
Manuel Garcia died in 2008 as the result of a gunshot wound he suffered on
October 31 of that year. There were two shot in the same incident - a home
invasion robbery in a mobile home at 828 Anderson Avenue.
It's actually one of two murders at the same address.
"We solved the other one," Allen says.
The surviving victim in the 2008 shooting described the assailants as a young,
white female and a young, light-skinned male. That is the shooting for which
Crimeline recently enhanced the reward - up to a maximum of $7,000. The typical
Crimeline rate for tips tops out at $1,000.
There have been recent developments in that case, according to Allen, and the
matter is currently under study at the state attorney's office.
The third case is the oldest: the November 13, 1992 slaying of Xochitl Patino at
her home at 219 West Myers Blvd. The prime suspect in the case, Daniel Aguilera,
was for many years believed to be dead. In late November, the man was discovered
to be alive and well and living in Highland County.
"We picked him up," Allen says.
Aguilera was booked into the Lake County jail on November 29.
"It is an ongoing investigation," Allen notes.