On November 19, 1998 Deborah Gregg was murdered while working on her fence before getting ready for work. She had done this many mornings before on her beautiful and sacred land which she only considered herself caretaker of. What she did not know, on that morning, was that someone was hiding in the dry creek bed, waiting for her. As she built her fence, this murderer rose from a cover of brush and poison oak and fatally shot her in the back with a shot gun.
He then proceeded to walk up to her, while she lay bleeding into the earth, and make sure she was dead. We know this, because the blood hounds tracked his scent from his hiding place to her body. This man had no regard for her life. The man accused of her murder, and who we that were close to her are certain is responsible, is Rogelio Roberto "Roy" Garcia. Debbie lay there dead until her body was found the following day, in the afternoon, when her coworkers reported her missing 2 days from work w/o a phone call. We are very grateful to the people at Gardner Health Center for being so conscientious of her missing and knowing that Debbie would not have been so irresponsible.
Now, a little about this wonderful woman and the events that led to her murder. Debbie Gregg was a beautiful woman dedicated to her spirituality and helping others. She considered herself a protector and caretaker of the land she lived on. She was a pipe carrier, a sundancer, a lesbian activist, a devout environmentalist, and very involved with women's rights in every aspect. She was a licensed clinical social worker, working with Latino youth in San Jose.
There is so much I could tell you about her, but that would be a book :) I will say that she was a gentle soul to those whose lives she touched, and a warrioress at heart to the causes that she defended. She walked her life in a good way, giving respect to all living things.
Now for the events which led to her murder... Back in May of 1998, came his first threat against her. "Roy" Garcia bought 252 acres adjacent to Debbie's 2.3 acres. He immediately brought in bulldozers (w/o proper permits) and started to doze the land into the creek, thus blocking the flow of water which would ultimately result in flooding to her property. He had/has no respect nor regard for the sacredness of the land. Debbie approached him on that day and told him to stop what he was doing, siting the repercussions. She spoke to him in his native tongue, Spanish, which she was fluent in. This enraged Garcia. He yelled at her, threatening her and saying that he was a street fighter in Mexico and she had made herself an enemy.
Well, many more events took place like this. Most of Garcia's actions on the land were illegal. He built a 30 foot damn higher up on the creek, again illegally. He proceeded to cut down old growth oak trees, which are protected here in California. Debbie stopped him whenever she could by calling the sheriff. She had many witnesses to her encounters with this man and his threats to her. But our sister stood strong in her convictions and refused to bow to him.
Garcia tried to move the land boundaries and take several feet of Debbie's land, in an area that she was planning to build her home and could not afford to lose any. The land was surveyed several times and Garcia had the markers moved, again illegally. The land dispute had gone to court by this time. It was ordered that any work done on the boundary, building of his fence, would have to be overseen by the sheriff. That neither of them were to set foot on the others land. Garcia did not live on his land and there is no dwelling on it. He put up barbed wire fences and claimed it was to keep cattle in. This land is soft w/ steep hillside ravines. It is not cattle land.
Ultimately, in Nov. of '98, Garcia filed a suit against Debbie. Suing her for harassment. He wanted her land. Her land is buildable and is key to this area.. The lawsuit was absurd and Debbie's attorney recommended she counter sue, which she did. The counter suit was filed Friday, Nov. 13, Garcia was served Monday or Tuesday of the following week and he murdered Debbie that Thursday.
Garcia is a man with money and property. When he was arrested, he had $87,000 cash in his home and was covered in poison oak. At first, he was held w/o bail under the charge of murder in the first degree w/ special circumstances. Then at his arraignment, for reasons we cannot understand, he was given bail of 1 million dollars. Garcia met that bail and is walking the streets today. What this man wanted was her land. She was murdered protecting her land. That is the only reason. Her life stripped from her and all of us who love her over a few feet of land. The motive was pure greed. Who was this woman that dared to stand up to this man? He could not take it. Our warrior sister stood strong in the face of her fears and never wavered from her dedication to the land. Even though she was very afraid of Garcia.
We need your help. We want the word spread to all that will listen. We need help in raising funds to protect the land. Our goal is to pay off her land and keep it open space. A place where we can take the future generations to camp and honor the sacredness of land in it's natural state. A place where ceremony and spiritual gatherings can take place. Unfortunately, we don't have the financial resources that the murderer does and we are determined not to let him get the land, which would be "the prize" to him. In order to satisfy her will, the land will have to be sold. We have to raise the money to pay it off. We could use the help of anyone who has knowledge in these matters, how to go about all of this, contributions and physical presence in the courtroom.
The preliminary trial starts May 20, 1999, at 9 a.m. The civil suit, which Debbie began, is also being continued on behalf of the land. We have legal fees to pay with that. There is work to be done on the land itself. We need and are asking for help. (please see "case updates" for information regarding the trial)
Pam Jones, Debbie's sister thru spiritual adoption, has been carrying the bulk of the load with all of this. She needs our prayers and help in any way possible. It is time for action. We also need help to build a web site that will tell the story and keep everyone informed. It will be linked to many other web sites once it is up and running. We have many powerful pictures of the land and damage Gracia has done to the trees there. They will be on the web site.
We need all of your prayers and good energy to help us fight the good fight. Help in any way that you can. This is a call to action. Feel free to e-mail me w/ any questions or suggestions, Shiningcmt@aol.com
Thank you for listening...
May You Walk in Beauty, Shining Comet