Solomon X. Martinez (Pueblo Police) and the area where he allegedly dumped a woman’s dismembered body last week (KRDO screenshot)
A 26-year-old private security guard in Colorado allegedly had a severed hand in his coat pocket when he was arrested on suspicion of killing and dismembering a woman, whose body was discovered discarded by a creek. Solomon X. Martinez was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of first-degree murder in the woman’s horrific slaying.
The Pueblo County Coroner’s Office will release the identity of the victim after her next of kin are located and notified of her death. The office will also perform an autopsy to determine the manner and cause of death.
According to a news release from the Pueblo Police Department, officers at about 3:47 p.m. on Jan. 10 responded to the area of Fountain Creek just south of Highway 47 after receiving reports about a possible homicide. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they located the body of an adult female who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives from the department’s Crimes Against Persons Unit took over the investigation, which officials said was believed to be a homicide. Based on witness statements and other evidence, detectives arrested Martinez on suspicion of murder.
A probable cause affidavit obtained by The Pueblo Chieftain provided additional details about the circumstances leading to the apprehension of Martinez.
According to the report, Martinez at about 5 a.m. on Jan. 9 was spotted by his roommate at a local car wash wearing clothing that was covered in dirt and blood. The roommate told police that Martinez used a pressure washer to clean his hands and then asked the roommate to dig a large hole about 10 feet deep for him.
The roommate then asked Martinez if he could borrow some tools, and Martinez began rummaging around in his car trunk but allegedly prohibited the roommate from getting close or looking inside. Martinez allegedly then moved “something big” out of the way to reach the tools.
According to court documents obtained by Colorado Springs ABC affiliate KRDO, the roommate said Martinez offered to knock $1,000 off the roommate’s debt if he agreed to help him dig the hole. The roommate said he declined.
“I was terrified. I was beyond terrified,” the roommate told the station when recounting his conversation with the blood-soaked Martinez. “Like, I can’t even put into words how physically scared I was.”
One of the roommate’s friends placed the initial call to police, KRDO reported.
According to the court documents obtained by The Pueblo Chieftain, the roommate’s friend reportedly told police that Martinez on Jan. 9 had also approached him about digging a 10-foot hole. He also said that he was with Martinez on Jan. 9 when the defendant stopped his car on Mohawk Road and allegedly discarded what appeared to be the body of a woman in the creek next to the road. Martinez had asked the roommate’s friend to help him but the friend allegedly refused, even after Martinez threatened him with a gun.
The roommate’s friend reportedly claimed that the woman had been decapitated, but said he saw that the head was with the body.
Before leaving the scene, the roommate’s friend took a video of the body before covering the victim’s headless body with a blanket. He then showed the video to authorities.
KRDO reported that Martinez worked for a private security company run by former Pueblo County Sheriff Dan Corsentino and was on duty at the Sangre De Cristo Arts Center on the evening of Jan. 10. Officers responding to the location said that before they made contact with Martinez, they overheard him saying, “I had a hand in my jacket for two days.”
Upon placing him under arrest, authorities said they found an adult female’s hand inside a plastic grocery bag in Martinez’s left chest jacket pocket. A red substance that appeared to be blood was also reportedly found inside and on the outside of Martinez’s car.
During questioning, Martinez reportedly claimed that he had picked up the victim on the night of Jan. 8. and they engaged in sexual acts. He claimed the victim then demanded money and he refused to pay, but said he then dropped her off safely at about 2 or 3 a.m. on Jan. 9.
Martinez reportedly claimed that after dropping off the victim, he let his roommate’s friend borrow his car, alleging that the other man must have found the victim and killed her. Martinez allegedly conceded that authorities might find incriminating evidence on his cellphone, but explained that he left his phone and gun in the car when he let the other man borrow it.
Police reportedly noted that Martinez’s hands had visible cuts and that he appeared “deceitful” throughout the interrogation.
Former Sheriff Corsentino told KRDO that Martinez had only been with the company for a few weeks and had no criminal record and passed his background check without problem before he was hired.
Martinez is currently being held at the Pueblo County Jail on a $1 million cash-only bond, records show. He will make his first court appearance on Wednesday.
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