Tooele man who allegedly committed ‘unforgivable sin’ charged with murder

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TOOELE, Utah (ABC4) — The father who allegedly killed his daughter, a Salt Lake County sheriff’s deputy, was charged with murder, a first-degree felony on Sept. 6.

Hector Martinez-Ayala, 54, previously a person of interest, was charged by Third District Court after his daughter Marbella Martinez, 25, was found dead by Tooele City Police on Aug. 1.

Along with the murder charge, Martinez-Ayala has been charged with the following:

• Two counts of obstructing justice, second-degree felonies.
• One count of stalking current or former cohabitant, a third-degree felony.
• One count of unlawful transaction, possession or transfer of a financial transaction card, a third-degree felony.
• Two counts of unlawful use of a transaction card, class A misdemeanors.
• One count of unlawful possession of another’s identification documents, a class A misdemeanor.

Charging documents stated the suspect reportedly sent a text message to his brother saying he may never return.

“My brother, you know much I love you. I made a big mistake, an unforgivable sin, now I’m too scared and I don’t know what to do. I think I will never come back,” he said.

Previously, ABC4.com reported Martinez was found dead by police at a Tooele home after 8 a.m. when officers responded to a welfare check.

The Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office stated in August Tooele Police were investigating this as a suspicious death.

Charging documents state that the last known video of the 25-year-old came from an indoor camera around 12:30 p.m., the 54-year-old came home just after 2 p.m. according to the camera notifications on his phone.

The camera notifications stopped afterward and video after that does not exist or was deleted because of the disabling of the cameras.

Charging documents say Martinez-Ayala took Martinez’s phone and disposed of it on his way to Salt Lake City International Airport, it was found on I-80 near mile marker 101. He flew from Salt Lake to San Francisco, then to Houston. After leaving Houston, there are no cell phone records available.

He allegedly used his twin brother’s identification when he landed in another country.

Documents stated whereabouts of Martinez-Ayala are not known, however his last known location was outside of the United States.

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