The police Strangled Out of a jealous rage, he stalked his adult daughter and then murdered her after texting her that she had committed an “unforgivable sin” to the family.
Hector Ramon Martinez Ayala, 54, was named as a suspect after his 25-year-old daughter, Marbella Martinez, was found dead in the home she shared with her father in Tooele on August 1. An autopsy revealed that she had been strangled to death.
“I have made a big mistake, an unforgivable sin… I don't think I can ever go back.”
Martinez was a Salt Lake County sheriff's deputy.
Martinez Ayala was charged with murder on Friday and an arrest warrant was issued after he is believed to have fled the country with the help of family members.
The indictment describes a bizarre and disturbing series of incidents in which Martinez Ayala appears to have stalked his daughter and confessed to her twin brother in text messages.
“Brother, you know how much I love you. I made a big mistake. An unforgivable sin. Now I'm scared and I don't know what to do,” Martinez Ayala allegedly texted around 4:30 p.m. on July 31.
“I don't think I'll ever come back,” he reportedly added.
Prosecutors said that before killing his daughter, Martinez Ayala had become “increasingly obsessive and controlling” and had been tracking and stalking her using electronic devices.
His writing was reported to have been “more in the nature of a jealous lover than a father.”
According to the indictment, the stalking escalated when the father found the daughter with her boyfriend on July 29 and the daughter fled to a hotel. Camera footage showed the daughter entering the home on July 31 and Martinez-Ayala arriving about two hours later.
Her body was later found in her bed.
“Blood was observed from the victim's mouth and there were obvious claw marks on her face and neck,” the prosecutor said.
Tooele police said Martinez-Ayala likely fled the country with the help of friends and family and are calling on them to help arrest him.
a News Video Report KSL-TV aired footage of the victim and her father before the horrific incident took place.
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