Thread: Relatives ask that killer's life be spared.

Relatives ask that killer's life be spared
By Tracy Manzer Staff Writer
Posted: 12/02/2008 10:45:22 PM PST


LONG BEACH - A twice-convicted murderer was out of prison and back in the United States for less than two months before he killed two women and stabbed two other people, a jury learned Tuesday.

Defendant Santiago Martinez Jr., 27, did not look at his sister or his father as both testified in the penalty phase of his most recent murder trial at the Long Beach Superior Court.

Both relatives told the court they love Martinez despite his deeds and do not want him to be executed.

They also admitted they were scared of him in 2003 when he killed his two victims and threatened to kill them - as well as his sister's unborn baby and other relatives - if they didn't help him dispose of at least one body, destroy evidence and keep quiet.

The defendant's father, Santiago Martinez Sr., testified his son was a well-behaved boy until he was about 10 years old.

Martinez enjoyed the things most young boys did, like sports and riding bikes, his dad said.

His sister, Blanca Martinez, recalled playing with Martinez as a child, and that he would sometimes baby-sit her and their other brother and protect her when she was a young girl.

"Regardless of everything, I love my brother," she said, crying.

Under cross-examination from the prosecutor, the elder Martinez said his son was first in trouble with the law at age 13 or 14 and he admitted that his son was first arrested at the age of 11 for an armed robbery where he used a

gun on a victim at an ATM - the start of many years of legal troubles.
Court testimony Tuesday revealed Martinez was arrested as a minor on charges including armed robbery, receiving stolen property, being in possession of a stolen car, drug and weapons possessions, forcible oral copulation and sodomy and threats during sexual assault.

For his first arrest, he was taken into custody briefly and then sentenced to home on probation. He was expelled from school for gang activity by the age of 13 and was serving time in a youth camp by the age of 15.

Martinez was in a California Youth Authority facility at the age of 16 when he forced a fellow inmate to perform oral sex on him and tried to sodomize the victim.

Martinez was tried and convicted as an adult for that crime at the age of 17 and sentenced to four years in state prison, then tried and convicted on a charge of possessing a deadly weapon - a shank - while in prison, adding another two years to his term, according to witness testimony.

Martinez remained in prison until Dec. 4, 2002, when he was turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service and deported to Mexico, his father testified.

By January 2003, Martinez was back in the United States living with his family in Long Beach, his dad said.

Martinez killed 28-year-old Christina Wilkerson of Long Beach on March 18, 2003, and was convicted of her slaying in 2005.

He killed his second murder victim - 24-year-old Myra Orozco of Long Beach - on March 30, 2003, witnesses said.

Much of this the jury already knew.

However, Martinez's father also testified that his son allegedly stabbed two other people during the two-month period he was out of prison and back in America, crimes for which Martinez has never been arrested or charged.

One victim was his sister's boyfriend, now her husband, Antonio Macias.

"You told police you were afraid...because he had already stabbed your boyfriend, Antonio Macias, correct?" Connolly asked.

"Yes," the sister said. "Because he was, because Antonio was beating on me."

"Isn't it true that you told police your brother stabbed Antonio Macias because he demanded that your brother pay rent?" Connolly shot back.

"I don't know," the sister said.

The other alleged victim was the boyfriend of the defendant's mother. Martinez's mother and father had been separated at least five years by that time, the father testified.

Defense Attorney Chris Ayers asked the defendant's father and his sister if the separation had a detrimental effect on Martinez, and both agreed.

The defendant's dad and sister also said they believed the defendant's involvement with a local gang and his use of drugs and/or alcohol caused much of his violent behavior.

"He acts well-behaved, in a normal way (while in custody) because I know he's not on drugs," his father said.

Several Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies called to testify about Martinez's various infractions and convictions while in jail painted a different picture.

They described the defendant sneaking out of his jail cell into a common area for inmates, and two occasions in which shanks - pieces of metal sharpened at one point and used as weapons - were found during cell searches.

The defense attempted to counter the prosecution's witnesses by calling a former California Department of Corrections prison warden who - in a hearing held away from view of the jury - said he felt Martinez could be safely housed for the rest of his life.

Daniel Vasquez was cross-examined extensively about his review of Martinez's lengthy criminal record. The former warden said he was hired by the defense last week and interviewed Martinez for about two hours before coming to his conclusion that Martinez could be safely kept in a maximum security prison rather than executed.

"Any inmate could pose some danger," Ayers asked.

"True," Vasquez said.

"But you feel the California Department of Corrections could control that?" the defense attorney asked.

"It always has," Vasquez stated.

Deputy District Attorney Pat Connolly jumped on that statement, asking Vasquez if he knew how many murders of inmates had occurred during his years at San Quentin and Soledad state prisons.

Vasquez said he didn't know how many, but agreed prison murders do occur.

"Things happen in prison, murders happen...assaults happen...murders of staff happen," Vasquez said.

After the hearing, Long Beach Superior Court Judge Joan Comparet-Cassani ruled that Vasquez would not testify before the jury because any information he would give regarding predictions of what the defendant might do is not relevant nor admissable by law.

"His statement that the prison system has always protected inmates is ludicrous," the judge said.

Testimony is scheduled to resume at 10a.m. today and closing arguments are expected to follow.

http://www.presstelegram.com/crime/ci_11124769

TS77

Not my baby, not my boy!!!!!

Why do we need to spend our dollars to clothe, feed and provide healthcare for this guy for the rest of his life? He has been arrested since he was 11 years old, so I doubt there is any chance of turning him into an upstanding citizen through rehabilitation. Since he is only 27 now, taxpayers can look forward to perhaps another 50 years of keeping him well-fed and healthy.

Originally Posted by vortex

Why do we need to spend our dollars to clothe, feed and provide healthcare for this guy for the rest of his life? He has been arrested since he was 11 years old, so I doubt there is any chance of turning him into an upstanding citizen through rehabilitation. Since he is only 27 now, taxpayers can look forward to perhaps another 50 years of keeping him well-fed and healthy.

Unfortunately, the alternative is to deport him and watch him return to the U.S. to commit more crimes. Locking him up will at least prevent him from further violence against American citizens.

In China he would be elevated from prisoner---to organ donor.

A twice-convicted murderer was out of prison and back in the United States for less than two months before he killed two women and stabbed two other people, a jury learned Tuesday.

Martinez was in a California Youth Authority facility at the age of 16 when he forced a fellow inmate to perform oral sex on him and tried to sodomize the victim.

This sounds like an animal more than a human being. WHY SHOULD THIS ILLEGAL ALIEN BE SPARED THE DEATH PENALTY? His victims probaly pleaded for their lives, BUT HE DIDNT CARE.

The defendant's father, Santiago Martinez Sr., testified his son was a well-behaved boy until he was about 10 years old.

Martinez enjoyed the things most young boys did, like sports and riding bikes, his dad said.

His sister, Blanca Martinez, recalled playing with Martinez as a child, and that he would sometimes baby-sit her and their other brother and protect her when she was a young girl.

"Regardless of everything, I love my brother," she said, crying.

Oh yea. This was just a NORMAL BOY who was bought up with lots of those "family values" that Bush keeps talking about.

IF THAT ILLEGAL ALIEN WERE NOT IN AMERICA, 2 PEOPLE WOULD STILL BE ALIVE, 2 PEOPLE WOULDNT BE CUT UP IN AN ATTEMPTED MURDER, AND A TEENAGER WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN RAPED.

HOW MANY TIMES MUST AMERICANS KEEP TELLING OUR LAWMAKERS TO PROTECT US BY KEEPING OUT ILLEGAL ALIENS WHO INENTIONS ARE TO HARM AMERICANS?

One illegal alien and two known victims and convictions. Serial Killer.

Move this article to the new Americans Killed by Illegals section.