Kevin Augustiniak, a member of the Mesa, Arizona charter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, was sentenced to 23 years in prison by a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge named Peter Reinstein yesterday for the murder of a woman named Cynthia Yvonne Garcia in Phoenix in October 2001.
For the last decade Garcia’s murder has been used to exemplify the alleged inherent psychopathy of all members and friends of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.
Garcia, a 44-year-old mother of six who has been widely described as a substance abuser, was killed after going to the Mesa clubhouse in October 2001. Garcia was beaten at the clubhouse and stabbed after being taken into the desert in the trunk of a car. Four patched Angels and two prospects were in the clubhouse around the time Garcia was beaten. The prospects were named Dennis Gilliard and David LeMoine. The four patch holders were Augustiniak (above), Paul Eischeid, Richard Hyder and Michael Christopher “Mesa Mike” Kramer.
Mesa Mike
According to multiple sources, the architect of the murder was Kramer. Kramer was the most senior club member there and he was intoxicated on methamphetamine at the time. Kramer punched Garcia and knocked her off a bar stool for “mouthing off.” He kicked the woman and ordered Augustiniak, Eischeid and Hyder to join in the assault. Kramer ordered the other Angels to throw Garcia in the trunk of his car. Kramer stabbed and slashed Garcia in the desert near Usery Pass south of Mesa.By Kramer’s account, the nearly decapitated woman somehow managed to grasp his pant leg as she died. And, he was moved to treachery by that poignant gesture. Less than a month later Kramer became a paid ATF informant.
Kramer killed Hyder in a traffic accident the following Spring. He was eventually sentenced to five years probation for killing Garcia. He is now enrolled in the U.S. Marshalls’ Witness Relocation Program. Since the Garcia murder, Kramer has been paid slightly more than $415,000 by the federal government.
Augustiniak and Eischeid
Augustiniak and Eischeid were indicted for the murder as a result of Kramer’s participation in a racketeering investigation of Hells Angels in Arizona, Nevada and California. The well known investigation was eventually named Operation Black Biscuit for the Fox Television reality show America’s Most Wanted. The federal charges against Augustiniak were dismissed. Eischeid fled to Argentina where he was discovered and apprehended in February 2011. Eischeid is unlikely to be extradited.Augustiniak was indicted for the second degree murder of Garcia by an Arizona grand jury in 2007. On advice of counsel he pled guilty in October 2011. He attempted to withdraw the plea but his motion was denied.
Relatives of both the victim and the convicted man made statements before the sentencing.
“I just want justice,” Garcia’s daughter, Angela Ruiz, told Judge Reinstein. “I want him to get the maximum because he’s still breathing and my mom’s gone.”
Augustiniak’s father told the judge that his son should not be punished for what Michael Kramer did. “The Garcia family is not having the truth said here today,” Daniel Augustiniak told the judge. “My son didn’t have the trial he’s supposed to have, didn’t have the lawyer he’s supposed to have.”
Expert Insight
Last month outlaw biker authority Kerrie Droban cited the Garcia murder as an example of the continuing danger the Hells Angels present to Arizona and the general public in an interview broadcast on Phoenix television station KTVK. Droban is the author of Running With The Devil, a book about Operation Black Biscuit.“Not only was it an extraordinary investigation, but you start to learn who the Hells Angels really are,” Droban told KTVK. “It is the modern-day Mafia and that’s really part of the fascination with these biker gangs.” A movie version of Running With The Devil is in pre-production.
Droban describes Garcia as a “biker groupie” and told the television station that her research has led her to believe that Paul Eischeid was the principal aggressor against the dead woman. “Amongst his peers, he was known as the go-to guy,” she said. “If you wanted someone taken care of, they called it TCB, taking care of business, if you wanted someone taken care of, you had Paul Eischeid do it.”
Eischeid was unavailable to comment or respond.