A Utah man was charged Friday with the death of his corrections officer daughter, who was found dead during a welfare check at the home she shared with her father in Tooele last month.
Hector Martinez-Ayala, 54, was previously named a person of interest in the death of 25-year-old Marbella Martinez, who was sworn in as a Salt Lake County corrections officer in January, KTVX reported. He reportedly used his twin brother’s identification to flee the country, and his current whereabouts are unknown.
According to court documents, Martinez-Ayala texted his brother to say he “made a big mistake, an unforgivable sin.”
“Now I’m too scared and I don’t know what to do,” the text message said. “”I think I will never come back.”
The state Medical Examiner’s Office said that Martinez was strangled, the Gephardt Daily reported.
A probable causes statement says that Martinez had become “increasingly obsessed and controlling with the victim,” citing the text messages investigators found. He reportedly put a tracking device on his daughter’s vehicle, the documents say.
On the day of the murder, Martinez-Ayala reportedly disabled security cameras at their shared home and tossed his daughter’s phone — which had video footage from the cameras — along Interstate 80 on his way to the Salt Lake City airport. Investigators later found the phone.
Martinez-Ayala flew from Salt Lake City to San Francisco and from there to Houston.where he took a flight to San Francisco and from there to Houston, Texas. He then used “his twin brother’s identification when he landed in another country and is seen on surveillance video,”
Martinez was found dead on August 1, and deputies said at that time her death was “suspicious,” KTVX said.
The court documents charge Martinez-Ayala with murder, stalking, obstructing justice, unlawful financial transactions, possession of another’s identification, and unlawful use of a transaction card.
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[Featured image: Marbella Martinez/Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
