Hector Ramon Martinez-Ayala, a 54-year-old man from Tooele, Utah, was charged with the murder of his daughter, Marbella Martinez, who was a Salt Lake County sheriff’s deputy. Martinez-Ayala confessed to his brother in a text message that he made a “big mistake” before fleeing the country and using his daughter’s bank card to withdraw money.
The charges allege that Martinez-Ayala had been stalking his daughter for months, with his behavior escalating to obsessive texting, surveillance, and placing a tracking device on her vehicle. On July 31, he strangled her when she returned home, and her body was found on August 1 in her bedroom after police were called to do a welfare check.
Prosecutors stated that Martinez-Ayala disabled cameras on the property but left digital footprints, including location data on his and his daughter’s phones, as well as the text message to his brother confessing to a “sin” and expressing fear.
Martinez had moved out of her father’s home due to his stalking behavior and had been living in a hotel for a few days before her murder. In addition to the murder charge, Martinez-Ayala faces charges related to obstruction of justice, stealing a bank card, stalking, and identity theft.
Martinez-Ayala does not have an attorney listed in Utah online court records, and attempts to contact him were unsuccessful. The case is being investigated by Tooele police, and the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office has memorialized Martinez in a Facebook post.
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