Major update in horror case of girl, 10, raped & strangled to death before body DISMEMBERED & put in burning blanket
A SUSPECT charged in connection with the horror murder of a ten-year-old girl who was raped before being strangled and stabbed to death is standing trial this week.
Fabian Gonzales, 37, is accused of child abuse resulting in the death of Victoria Martens whose body was dismembered before being hidden in a burning blanket in a bathtub.
Victoria, 10, was allegedly murdered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in August 2016 by an unknown man, according to KRQE.
Investigators said Victoria was injected with methamphetamine, sexually assaulted, strangled, and stabbed to death.
Her mom Michelle Martens was initially named alongside then-boyfriend Gonzales and his cousin, Jessica Kelley, as the prime suspects in the girl’s murder.
However, the case was blown open in 2018 when DNA from an unknown male assailant – a fourth person – was found on Victoria’s remains.
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Cellphone data also showed that Martens and Gonzales were not in the home at the time of Victoria’s death.
As a result, the murder charges against them both were dropped.
The identity of the other man is still not known.
He is currently the only person who would be charged with the girl’s murder.
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Michelle had previously confessed to police that she used a dating site to arrange for men to sexually abuse Victoria while she watched.
However, cops were never able to find evidence to substantiate these claims.
The murder charges were also later dropped against Kelley when she plead no contest to other charges including reckless abuse of a child resulting in death.
Gonzales is now accused of attempting to conceal Victoria’s death by dismembering her body after he and Martens left her alone with Kelley to allegedly buy drugs and returning to find her dead.
First responders had initially been called to the scene in response to a reported assault after Gonzalez ran to a neighbor’s apartment to call 911 when Kelley allegedly hit him and Martens with an iron.
However, officers arriving at the scene made the horrific discovery of Victoria’s body.
Last week, paramedic Elizabeth Hesley revealed she began to sob when trying to fix cardiac leads to Victoria’s broken body.
“When I saw the intestines, I started to tear up,” she said.
FOURTH PERSON AT SCENE
During her testimony last week, Kelley claimed that an unidentified man with a “Mexican accent” walked into the home when she and Victoria were there alone.
She claimed that the man killed Victoria and threatened her and her children.
Kelley added that the man also said they had to destroy the evidence of his murder.
She admitted to having smoked methamphetamine for hours and had become increasingly “paranoid” in the hours before Victoria’s death.
Gonzales’ defense has countered that Kelley alone killed and dismembered Victoria.
They have claimed she acted alone and tried to keep her actions from him and Victoria’s mother.
During Gonzales’ trial on Monday, Albuquerque Police Department Deputy Commander Kyle Harstock told the court how cell phone data did not place him or Michelle Martens at the scene.
Harstock added that the unknown male suspect allegedly emerged from Victoria’s room and said that now Gonzales had to “clean up the mess,” presumably in reference to the dead child.
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Gonzales faces charges including child abuse, recklessly caused, resulting in the death of a child under 12.
He also faces seven counts of tampering with evidence.