A California man arrested and charged by police with multiple murders at a Modesto home is also a suspect in the death of a child previous year, Modesto Police Chief Galen Carroll said.
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Carroll said detectives sought the Ramey warrant over the weekend because they feared Martinez would flee. Then sometime early Saturday he purportedly killed the women and girls. Martinez’s mother and his daughter with Crews were also found dead along with an unidentified 5-year-old girl. About 1 a.m., the tense manhunt ended quietly in the Westfield-Oakridge mall parking lot as Martinez was confronted by police and quickly surrendered.
This Sunday, July 19, 2015 booking image released by the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department shows Martin Martinez.
Martin Martinez, 30, was arrested 80 miles away outside a San Jose movie theater with his father on Sunday and is being held without bail in the October 2014 death of Christopher Ripley, Modesto police said. Her father shared a video, but didn’t want to talk.
“I’d like to extend my condolences to the families and friends of the victims of this frightful crime”, Carroll said.
Carroll said Martinez had been under investigation since the boy’s death and that authorities were preparing to formally charge him with homicide when the five bodies were found Saturday afternoon in the Modesto home he used to share with Dr. Amanda Crews.
A suspect is now in custody for a quintuple homicide that occurred Saturday in this community, but the victims’ friends and relatives are still reeling.
Officers also released a picture and license plate number of a red Lincoln Navigator he was known to drive, police said.
Martinez and Crews lived with the children at the Nob Hill Court home until a couple of months ago when he had to move out because of a protective order issued by Children Protective Service regarding Christopher’s death, Carroll said.
“She was our doctor for like 8 years”, said Mary Williams, who was one of Crews’ patients. “Whoever did this. We don’t know yet.”, she said. Gina Martinez said the death affected Martinez greatly, but she declined to name the brother or say how he died.
A family member who asked not to be identified told CNN that two of Crews’ daughters – 6-year-old Elizabeth Ripley and 6-month-old Rachael – were among the dead.
“He loved playing with his building blocks, his toy trains, and loved reading his favorite books “Good Night Moon” and ‘Hungry Caterpillar, ‘ ” the obituary said.
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Ripley died two days after the incident from a severe head injury inside his home on Pasadena Lane. His suspicion of Martinez in Christopher’s death surfaced early, making the accusation in divorce filings as police conducted a parallel investigation, which is usually automatically triggered in child deaths.
