A private security guard in Colorado was carrying a severed hand in his pocket when he was nabbed by police on suspicion of murdering a woman, according to court documents.
Solomon Martinez, 26, was working for a security company run by the former sheriff of Pueblo County when he was approached by police while still on duty at a local arts center, local reports say.
Officers took him into custody for the murder of a woman found dead in Fountain Creek on Jan. 10, the Pueblo Police Department said in a statement. When they did, cops found a woman’s hand wrapped in a plastic bag that was tucked into his jacket pocket, court documents say.
The women’s identity has not yet been disclosed.
Martinez was described by “deceitful” throughout his interrogation by police, acknowledging that he had picked up the victim for sex but saying someone else had killed her after he dropped her off.
His roommate reportedly told police he’d seen Martinez washing blood off himself early in the morning on Jan. 9, at which point, he said, Martinez had asked him to dig a 10-foot hole.
“I was terrified. I was beyond terrified. Like, I can’t even put into words how physically scared I was,” the roommate, Joshua Mazzurco, was quoted as telling detectives.
Another witness described as a friend of Mazzurco told police he’d watched Martinez transport the victim’s body and said she’d been decapitated. The witness said he’d filmed a video of the woman’s body to “cover for himself” and then showed “several people” the horrifying footage.
Former Pueblo County Sheriff Dan Corsentino told local outlet KRDO that Martinez had only worked for his security company for a few weeks but had passed a background check and had no criminal record at the time he was hired.
Martinez is due for his first court appearance next Wednesday, and he is being held on a $1 million cash-only bond.