Salvadoran Accused of 4 Nevada Killings Worked for 2 Victims
Salvadoran accused of 4 Nevada killings worked for 2 victims
RENO, Nev. — A 19-year-old Salvadoran man suspected of being in the country illegally was charged Monday with killing four people in Nevada, including a couple who employed him as a landscaper at their Reno home where he fatally shot them with a gun he stole from them earlier, authorities said.
Wilber Ernesto Martinez-Guzman told investigators he used a .22-caliber revolver stolen from the property of 81-year-old Gerald David and 80-year-oldSharon David less than two weeks before he killed them on Jan. 16.
"The lady was coming out. I got scared and shot at her,"Martinez-Guzman is quoted telling a Washoe County detective in an affidavit filed in Reno on Monday. It alleged that he first broke into"out buildings" or a trailer on the sprawling David property on Jan. 3 and Jan. 4 and made off with a cache of rifles and the handgun.
Martinez-Guzman had worked for a landscaping company at the Davids'property for four months, ending last July. It was not immediately clear if the job linked him to two women he is accused of killing in nearby Gardnerville.
The affidavit was used to obtain an arrest warrant for Martinez-Guzman, who was arrested Jan. 19 in Carson City and is jailed there on charges that he possessed weapons and other items stolen from the Davids and sold jewelry belonging to Gerald David and another victim.
Martinez-Guzman admitted also killing Gerald David, and the affidavit alleges that his DNA was found on the .22-caliber gun also used to kill Connie Koontz and Sophia Renken in their homes. Koontz was found dead Jan. 10. Renken's body was found Jan. 13.
The Davids were prominent Reno Rodeo Association members, and Martinez-Guzman is accused of possessing several Western-style belt buckles bearing their names stolen from their home.
Someone using an Apple account belonging to Martinez-Guzman's mother tried to activate an Apple watch stolen from Koontz, the affidavit said.
The mother, identified in the affidavit as Sonia Guzman, hasn't been charged with a crime. She was questioned by immigration authorities following her son's arrest and was given a hearing date, Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said.
Guzman was the registered owner of a 2006 BMW 325i that Martinez-Guzman was driving when he was arrested, and in which authorities say they found the murder weapon.
The .22-caliber revolver was recovered from the car, and the affidavit said a .22-caliber bullet with DNA matching Martinez-Guzman was found on the kitchen floor at the David home.
Douglas County District Attorney Mark Jackson told reporters Monday that investigators in Douglas and Washoe counties had "a high level of confidence" that Martinez-Guzman acted alone in the killings.
Washoe County District Attorney Chris Hicks refused to comment on his immigration status.
President Donald Trump tweeted a week ago that the four killings in Nevada showed the need for his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall, which was at the center of the federal government shutdown.
"What someone's status is in this country has nothing to do with how we are proceeding in this case," Hicks told reporters Monday. "We are looking to hold an alleged murderer accountable for the murders he committed. That's all."
Hicks said it would be more than a month before prosecutors decide whether to pursue the death penalty against Martinez-Guzman.
The 30-day clock on that decision deadline doesn't begin until he's formally arraigned in district court on the murder charges along with five burglary charges added in the new criminal complaint.
Hicks said they intend to extradite Martinez-Guzman to Washoe County to face those charges as soon as possible and that he will be held without bail in the county jail in Reno but that his initial arraignment in Reno Justice Court has not yet been scheduled.
He's currently being held in the Carson City jail on the theft and burglary charges on $500,000 bail. His appointed public defense attorney there, Karin Kreizenbeck, has declined comment.
Furlong said earlier that Martinez-Guzman's only known contact with authorities was a speeding ticket last February.
Each of the district attorneys told reporters during a news conference in Reno on Monday they would co-prosecute the case personally as their "highest priority."
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/salvadoran-accused-of-4-nevada-killings-worked-for-2-victims/ar-BBSQN3y
Death penalty to be sought for illegal immigrant in Nevada killings
By Max Michor Las Vegas Review-Journal
March 14, 2019 - 10:38 am
Updated March 14, 2019 - 4:50 pm
Prosecutors in Douglas and Washoe counties will seek the death penalty for a 20-year-old undocumented immigrant accused of killing four people in Northern Nevada.
“We reserve the death penalty for the worst of the worst,” Washoe County District Attorney Chris Hicks said at a news conference Thursday. “We use it sparingly.”
Wilber Ernesto Martinez-Guzman was indicted Wednesday on 10 counts of burglary, robbery, possession of a stolen weapon and murder.
Martinez-Guzman, an immigrant from El Salvador who entered the country illegally, is accused of shooting and killing Gerald David, 81, and his wife, Sharon, 80, in Reno and Connie Koontz, 56, and Sophia Renken, 74, in Gardnerville.
The shootings occurred during a weeklong robbery spree in January, authorities said.
Martinez-Guzman faces charges in both Washoe and Douglas Counties but was transferred to Washoe first to face the murder charges there.
The Washoe County district attorney’s office sought a grand jury indictment to expedite the trial against Martinez-Guzman, who waived his right to a preliminary hearing.
“This is a priority because of the victims, the victims’ families and the community,” Hicks said at a news conference held after Martinez-Guzman’s indictment was announced
Douglas County District Attorney Jackson said both offices were in contact with the victims’ families, who agreed with the decision.
Both offices considered Martinez-Guzman’s age and lack of criminal record when deliberating on the decision. His immigration status was not considered, Hicks said, adding that the offices were not aware of whether Martinez-Guzman had any criminal record outside the United States.
“After weighing all of the aggravating circumstances and all of the known mitigating circumstances, it was our decision that we would proceed with the death penalty,” Jackson said.
https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/...lings-1617933/
Illegal immigrant charged in 4 murders told police he killed because he needed money
Illegal immigrant charged in 4 murders told police he killed because he needed money for meth, official says
14 hrs ago
By Ryan Gaydos
An illegal immigrant charged with murder in the deaths of four people in Nevada earlier this year told police he committed the killings because he needed money to buy meth, a detective said Thursday.
Wilber Ernesto Martinez-Guzman, a 20-year-old Salvadoran national living in the U.S. illegally, broke into tears and repeatedly called himself an “idiot” before confessing to the murders during an interrogation hours after his arrest in Carson City on Jan. 19, a detective told a grand jury.
Martinez-Guzman had initially denied being behind the slayings and was smiling and giggling while being interrogated, Washoe County Sheriff’s Detective Stefanie Brady told the grand jury March 13, according to transcripts obtained by the Associated Press. When confronted with several contradictions, however, he then admitted he had “done something that’s unforgivable.”
Brady said he told her that he shot his victims “because of the drugs.”
https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxne....jpg?ve=1&tl=1
FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2019 file photo, Wilber Ernesto Martinez-Guzman, 19, of El Salvador, is escorted into the courtroom for his initial appearance in Carson City Justice Court in Carson City, Nev. (AP Photo/Scott Sonner, File)
“He said he needed the money for the meth and it was the meth,” Brady testified.
She added that Martinez made “lots of eye contact” during the early part of the interrogation and said he was initially fine without having an attorney because he was adamant he did nothing wrong.
When asked about certain items stolen from two of the murder victims, Brady said Martinez-Guzman began to cry.
“He talked about how he was an idiot. He repeated that several times,” Brady said. “He talked about how he had done something that's unforgivable.”
Martinez-Guzman was indicted last week on four counts of murder with the use of a deadly weapon, three counts of burglary while in possession of a firearm and one count each of burglary, burglary while gaining possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm, according to the Associated Press.
Federal officials have said Martinez-Guzman is in the U.S. illegally, but they don’t know when or how he came across the border. Officials said they were seeking the death penalty in the case.
Martinez-Guzman attorney had no comment after reviewing the transcripts.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/illegal-i...money-for-meth