‘Unforgivable sin’: Father charged with stalking, murdering Utah deputy

TOOELE, Utah (Scripps News Salt Lake City) — The father of a Utah deputy found dead last month has been charged with her murder , calling the crime an “unforgivable sin” in a text to a family member before leaving the country.

Hector Ramon Martinez-Ayala, 54, was charged with multiple counts in the death of his daughter, Marbella Martinez, including murder, stalking and obstructing justice.

This undated photo provided by the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office shows Marbella Martinez. (SLCSO)

The body of 25-year-old Martinez, who had been a corrections officer with the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office, was found at the Tooele home she shared with family during a welfare check on Aug. 1. Her death was ruled to be suspicious, and her father, Martinez-Ayala, was named a person of interest.

According to the indictment, it’s believed Martinez-Ayala killed his daughter on July 31. The cause of death was ruled to be homicide from strangulation.

Investigators said text messages between the father and daughter were “more of the nature of a jealous lover than a father,” and that his behavior towards his daughter had become “increasingly troublesome” as he had become “obsessed and controlling” with her.

Despite promising to change his behavior, Martinez-Ayala allegedly placed a tracking device and hidden camera in her vehicle while she was out of the country, then using it to track his daughter and her “romantic interest” while they were away at Bates Canyon in western Utah.

Surveillance video at the Tooele home showed Marbella arriving home on July 31, followed by her father about two hours later. Court documents allege Martinez-Ayala disabled or disconnected the home security cameras after arriving, and that video that may have showed him at the home afterwards was “deleted or never existed because of the disabling of the cameras after his arrival.”

Just after 4:30 p.m. on July 31, Martinez-Ayala texted his brother, saying, “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.”

Martinez-Ayala then headed to Salt Lake City International Airport, disposing of his daughter’s cell phone on the way. He then flew to San Francisco and Houston, before using his twin brother’s identification to leave the country.

The current location of Martinez-Ayala is unknown, but it is not in the United States.

This story was originally published by Scripps News Salt Lake City, an E.W. Scripps Company.