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Utah sheriff’s deputy allegedly stalked and killed by her father: “Unforgivable sin”
Prosecutors charged a Utah man with murder Friday, alleging he stalked and killed his adult daughter, a Salt Lake City sheriff’s deputy, and then allegedly texted his brother that he had committed an “unforgivable sin.”
Hector Ramon Martinez-Ayala, 54, of Tooele, confessed in a text message to his brother of making “a big mistake” before fleeing the country and using his daughter’s bank card to withdraw money, prosecutors said in court documents.
The victim was Marbella Martinez, 25, said Tooele Police spokesman Colbey Bentley.
Martinez had started working as a corrections officer with the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office in January. The department had memorialized her in a Facebook post Thursday, noting her death was being investigated as “suspicious” by Tooele police.
Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office
She had lived with her father in Tooele, west of Salt Lake City, until her father’s escalating series of obsessive texting, surveillance and stalking drove her to move into a hotel for a few days, according to court documents.
Charging documents state that in February, Martinez found a bag of her items including used feminine hygiene supplies in her father’s room, CBS affiliate KUTV reported.
The charges alleged her the stalking behavior had gone on for months, and that the “text messages from the defendant to the victim are more of the nature of a jealous lover than a father.” Martinez also found a bag of her underwear in his room, prosecutors said. Then, in mid-July he placed a tracking device on her vehicle while she was out of the country and later used it to find her and a romantic interest out by a hiking area, according to the charges.
When she returned to their house on the morning of July 31, her father strangled her, investigators said.
“Any video after [Hector’s] arrival at 2:17 pm July 31, 2024 was deleted or never existed because of the disabling of the cameras after his arrival,” charging documents state, according to KUTV.
But Martinez-Ayala left plenty of digital footprints, including location data on his phone and his daughter’s phone, as well as a text message to his brother that afternoon, according to investigators.
“My brother, you know much I love you, I made a big mistake, an unforgivable sin, now I’m too scared and I don’t know what to do. I think I will never come back,” the message said, according to the charging documents.
He flew to California, then Texas, before his cell records ceased, prosecutors said. He was then filmed passing through customs in an undisclosed country where he used his brother’s identification.
Martinez’s body was found on Aug. 1 in her bedroom after police were called to do a welfare check. Her phone was later found on the side of I-80 Eastbound, KUTV reported.
In addition to murder, Martinez-Ayala is charged with felonies related to obstruction of justice, stealing a bank card, and stalking, as well as misdemeanor identity theft.
In the days leading up to her murder, Martinez-Ayala reportedly stole his daughter’s credit card and made two separate cash withdrawals of $500 each, KUTV reported.
Martinez-Ayala does not have an attorney listed in Utah online court records, and attempts to find alternative methods to contact him were unsuccessful.
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Paul Whelan, freed in prisoner swap with Russia, tells other American detainees: “We’re coming for you”
Washington — Nearly seven weeks after the Russians handed over Paul Whelan on a tarmac in Ankara, Turkey, the Marine veteran stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with a message for other Americans who are held abroad.
“We’re coming for you,” he told reporters Tuesday night after he met with lawmakers. “It might take time, but we’re coming.”
Whelan said he spoke with lawmakers about how the government can better support detainees after they’re released.
“We spoke about how the next person’s experience could be better,” he said. “What the government could do for the next person that’s held hostage and comes home — the care and support that other people might need, especially people that are in a worse situation. There are people coming back that lived in the dirt without shoes for three years, people that were locked up in hideous conditions for 20 years. They need support.”
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The U.S. secured Whelan’s release in August in one of the largest prisoner swaps since the end of the Cold War. The complex deal came after months of sensitive negotiations between the U.S., Russia, Germany, Slovenia, Poland and Norway.
As part of the deal, Russia released 16 prisoners while the Western countries released eight Russians. Whelan was released alongside Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a U.S. green card holder and Kremlin critic.
Whelan, who had been the longest-held American detainee in Russia, was arrested in December 2018 when he traveled to the country to attend a friend’s wedding. He was convicted of espionage in a secret trial and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.
Whelan, his family and the U.S. government vehemently denied that he was a spy and accused Russia of using him as a political pawn. The U.S. government considered him to be wrongfully detained, a rare designation that put more government resources toward securing his release.
But a deal to secure his freedom was long elusive. He remained behind bars as Russia freed Marine veteran Trevor Reed and women’s basketball star Brittney Griner — both of whom were detained after Whelan’s arrest — in prisoner swaps with the U.S.
The U.S. said it pushed for his inclusion in both exchanges, but Russia refused. It led to Whelan advocating for his own release from a remote prison camp, calling government officials and journalists to make sure that he wasn’t forgotten.
When the plane carrying Whelan, Gershkovish and Kurmasheva landed in Maryland on Aug. 1, Whelan was the first to disembark. He was greeted by President Biden, who gave Whelan his American flag pin, and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Whether he likes it or not, he changed the world,” Rep. Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat, told reporters Tuesday.
Whelan’s case and his family’s constant pressure on the U.S. government brought more attention to the cases of Americans who are wrongfully detained by foreign governments.
Haley said Whelan is a reminder to other Americans considering traveling to Russia that “you have a target on your back.”
Whelan said it’s been an adjustment acclimating to life back in the U.S., especially learning the latest technology like his iPhone 15.
“I was in a really remote part of Russia,” he said. “We really didn’t have much. The conditions were poor. The Russians said the poor conditions were part of the punishment. And coming back to see this sort of thing now is a bit of a shock, but it’s a good shock.”