Thread: KY: DNA match leads to arrest in slaying

Friday, 02.12.10
DNA match leads to arrest in slaying

By DON PERRYMAN
The Messenger

MADISONVILLE, Ky. -- The last time Woody Morris talked to his wife, Joy, was on Halloween night in October 2002.

The couple operated a vehicle escort business, and she had made the long haul to West Palm Beach, Fla.

"We were both down there with separate loads," Woody Morris said Thursday. "She wanted me to come on back home."

Morris said storage buildings the couple owned had been broken into, and his wife told him to get back to Madisonville and check on them.

He suggested Joy drive north on Interstate 75 and stay overnight at a Best Western motel in Valdosta, Ga.

"We always stopped there," Woody Morris said, "because the gas was about half as much as it is in Florida."

What happened that night in Valdosta is still being pieced together. What Lowndes County Sheriff's Department investigators know is that Joy stopped at exit 2 off the interstate and gassed up her new Ford Mustang and had something to eat.

Investigators believe that after a long day on the road, she had stopped to get some rest.

They believe that's when Maurilio Masadiego Martinez came upon the 47-year-old woman.

They believe that's when her life came to an end.

A motel maid at the Best Western spotted Joy's black Mustang in a wooded area Nov. 1 behind the motel. Authorities were called.

When law enforcement arrived, they found Joy's body sitting in the driver's seat behind the steering wheel. Investigators believe her killer moved the car to where it was found.

Robbery didn't appear to be a motive for her death. She was wearing jewelry, Woody Morris said, and her purse had money, identification and credit cards in it.

An autopsy revealed she had been strangled and sexually assaulted.

There were no suspects. Time began to pass. Slowly. Especially for Woody Morris and his family.

He took a polygraph and had DNA samples taken.

"I wanted them to clear me," he said, "and they did."

But not for everyone.

He began to hear whispers. Word began to spread that he had killed his wife - that he had a $1 million life insurance policy on her.

It wasn't true, he said.

At his wife's visitation, Morris said he was outside the funeral home, when a Madisonville police officer approached him in uniform. The officer said she wanted to go inside, and Morris escorted her into the funeral home to see Joy and then back out.

"Everybody in there thought I was being arrested," Morris said.

About a month ago, Morris said he and his current wife, Brenda, were at a local auto parts store. Morris said he went into the store, and when he came out a woman called him a murderer.

Kathy Morris, Woody's daughter and Joy's stepdaughter, said there were a lot of people who thought that.

"It was rough," she said. "I knew he didn't kill her. I saw him here that Halloween night and saw him leave the next morning. You can tell people, but they don't believe you. They believe what they want to believe."

Lowndes County sheriff's Capt. Wanda Edwards worked the case and was getting nowhere. Lead after lead was followed and each led nowhere.

Investigators had DNA evidence that had been obtained at Joy's autopsy. It was entered into Georgia's Combined DNA Index System which allows DNA evidence to be compared.

"We had DNA evidence," Edwards said, "and several years later there was another sexual assault case in Valdosta."

One of the people questioned in that case was Maurilio Masadiego Martinez, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, who worked seasonal jobs, Edwards said.

During the interview, a DNA sample was obtained and later matched to the DNA taken from the scene where Joy Morris was found.

"Once we made the identification in 2008," Edwards said, "we obtained a warrant for rape."

But finding him was a different story. Martinez is a common name and Edwards said that illegal immigrants usually don't have authentic identification.

"If they're picked up, they often use other names," she said.

Edwards received a number of hits on the name Martinez that proved not to be the suspect.

Finally, Edwards and investigators had some luck. A couple of months ago, a Maurilio Martinez was arrested in Casselberry, Fla., on traffic charges.

"We check his fingerprints," Edwards said. "It was the guy we were looking for."

Martinez fought extradition. Lowndes County investigators obtained a governor's warrant. Once it was signed in Georgia, the Florida governor had to sign off on it.

Martinez spent his 40th birthday in jail Thursday in the Lowndes County lockup. He is charged with murder and is being held without bond. He has a court appointed attorney from the public defender's office.

The Morris family has waited more than seven years for the news they received earlier this week.

"It's a blessing," Kathy said. "An answered prayer. We've been praying for a long time. One thing I wish, if everybody would take a look at the people that they love and appreciate them a little more. They may not be here tomorrow."

www.miamiherald.com

Cold case closed after eight years
Posted: Feb 12, 2010 3:49 PM PST Updated: Feb 12, 2010 3:49 PM PST
By Jade Bulecza

LOWNDES COUNTY, GA (WALB) -A cold murder case in Lowndes County has been closed after eight years and many twists and turns.

A migrant worker is finally in jail in Georgia charged with raping and killing a Kentucky woman. Joy Morris was found dead in her car behind a Lake Park motel November first 2002.

Forty-year-old Maurilio Martinez is now charged with raping and murdering 47-year old Joy Morris on October 31, 2002. Morris stopped in Lake Park on her way home to Kentucky. The break in the case came when Valdosta Police investigated another rape case in April 2006.

"Detective Jason Sunday worked that rape and actually interviewed our suspect who at that time did not have ties with us," said Capt. Wanda Edwards, Lowndes County Sheriff's Office.

Det. Sunday got a DNA sample from the suspect and sent it to the crime lab. The DNA was entered into the database in 2008.

"Once those were entered in, it made a hit with our sexual assault kit from the Joy Morris Case," said Capt. Edwards.

The next hurdle was finding Martinez. That wasn't easy since he is an illegal immigrant.

"After we issued the warrant we were actually getting hits from all over the country of people using the same name and of course we checked them out but the fingerprints didn't match, the photo didn't match," said Edwards.

Finally, Martinez was arrested for traffic violations in Casselberry, Florida.

"We compared the prints and photos and it was our guy."

After martinez refused to be extradited to Georgia in November investigators had to get a warrant from Governor Sonny Perdue. The warrant was sent to Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who agreed to send him back to Georgia.

Morris was found dead in her black mustang along this woodline behind what is now the Motel 6. She stopped off exit 2 in Lake Park to rest make phone calls, get something to eat and get gas.

She was then raped and strangled. Morris was headed home after escorting a semi-truck from West Palm Beach.

Morris's husband says he's pleased with the results of the investigation. He found out authorities made the arrest on their son Jason's birthday on Tuesday.

http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=11979364

AGAIN:
"Our FAMILIES are at the mercy of ILLEGALS and their Anchors being murdered, raped, infected with disease, or robbed. We can see the results of the ILLEGAL invasion in our courts every day! But NOT to worry the Chamber of Commerce will get their cheap labor increasing their privatized PROFITS while socializing the benefits for their ILLEGALS on the back of U. S. Citizens, thanks to our past and current Presidents, the Congressional Leadership(?), and local elected and appointed officials!"

Added to Homepage with amended title:
http://www.alipac.us/article-4928--0-0.html

i'm just glad its over with