Background: The Days Inn on Central Avenue in Albuquerque, New Mexico (KRQE/YouTube). Inset: Angel Salazar (Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman).
A woman has learned her fate for playing a part in the bloody hatchet killing of a man at a motel in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Angel Salazar, 40, has been sentenced to life in prison for felony murder, second-degree murder, and tampering with evidence “in connection with the brutal killing of Ramon Martinez,” Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman announced on Thursday. A jury found Salazar guilty of the crimes in August.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
On the morning of Sept. 5, 2023, Martinez was sitting and smoking outside a room at the Days Inn on Central Avenue in Albuquerque. Salazar and a man who has still not been identified were seen approaching him just before 10 a.m. and then following him inside the room, police said.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the unidentified suspect was seen putting on brass knuckles before he walked into the room. After about 30 minutes inside, the two suspects walked out with blood on their arms. It is within that time frame that authorities believe the victim was killed.
“Martinez was struck more than 80 times with a hatchet,” Bregman said. “Security camera footage captured Salazar and an unidentified male entering the victim”s motel room and later leaving with his belongings. The footage also revealed Salazar’s bloody footprints as she exited the scene.”
At about 5 p.m. that day, the victim’s body was found. Police got a call about a body found in a room, with a blood trail leading from the motel room to the street about 100 feet away, police said in a news release at the time.
The victim had cuts to the back of his head and a wound to the shoulder, the Albuquerque Journal reported, citing a criminal complaint. In addition to the bloody footprints found on the ground outside of the room, investigators reported finding blood on both beds inside.
Salazar was tracked down near another hotel less than a mile from the murder scene. After she was detained, she requested medical treatment for fentanyl withdrawal and a cut to her finger, authorities said. Detectives tried to interview her, but she declined to make any statements, officials said.
Per New Mexico law, an inmate sentenced to life imprisonment becomes eligible for parole after 30 years.
