Staff Reports
Niagara County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Kristin Neubauer said officials are still looking for the motive in a fatal stabbing at the Hartland Motel on Christmas, but said it could potentially be related to a domestic incident.
No one could be reached for comment at the Hartland Motel at 8464 Ridge Road, Gasport, where 38-year-old Randy R. Whitney was found stabbed to death Christmas morning. All the telephone lines were down Monday.
Neubauer said they received the call by Whitney’s girlfriend, Gwendolyn Garcia, 31, at 1:15 a.m. Christmas day but would not comment on what was said or if there was a confession made.
The Sheriff’s Department also won’t say what Whitney was stabbed with or how many times he was stabbed.
Garcia was arrested on the charges of second-degree murder and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Whitney and Garcia had been living together at the Hartland Motel for about a year.
“They also lived in Lockport for a while” and three towns in the Rochester area before residing at the motel, Neubauer said. The couple had been dating about five years.
