On Friday, prosecutors in Tooele, Utah charged 54-year-old Hector Ramon Martinez-Ayala with the murder of his 25-year-old daughter, Marbella Martinez, a Salt Lake County sheriff’s deputy. Martinez confessed in a text message to his brother that he had made a “big mistake” before fleeing the country and using his daughter’s bank card to withdraw money.
According to court documents, Martinez had been living with her father in Tooele until his obsessive behavior, including stalking and surveillance, drove her to move into a hotel. The charges alleged that Martinez-Ayala had been stalking his daughter for months and that his behavior was more in line with that of a jealous lover than a father.
On the morning of July 31, Martinez returned home and her father strangled her, investigators said. Despite attempts to disable cameras on the property, Martinez-Ayala left behind digital evidence, including location data on both his and his daughter’s phones, as well as a text message to his brother confessing his actions and indicating he would not return.
After flying to California and then Texas, Martinez-Ayala used his brother’s identification to pass through customs in an undisclosed country. Martinez’s body was discovered on August 1 during a welfare check at her home.
In addition to murder, Martinez-Ayala is charged with obstruction of justice, theft of a bank card, stalking, and identity theft. He does not currently have an attorney listed in Utah court records, and attempts to contact him have been unsuccessful.
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