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Thread: Wilbur Ernesto Martinez-Guzman Sentenced to LWOP in 2019 NV Multiple Murders

  1. #1
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    Wilbur Ernesto Martinez-Guzman Sentenced to LWOP in 2019 NV Multiple Murders


    Sharon and Gerald David





    Murder charges expected against suspect in killings

    By KOLO News Staff

    RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - A man apparently in the United States illegally is the primary suspect in four Northern Nevada murders, and no one else is being sought.

    January 20, 2019, Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam hosted a multi-agency news conference to announce the arrest of 19-year-old Wilbur Ernesto Martinez-Guzman. Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong says the suspect had lived in the Carson City area about a year, but has no local record.


    The suspect is so far charged with burglary, possession of stolen property and obtaining money by false pretenses, and he is on an immigration hold. District Attorneys from Washoe County and Douglas County hope to file murder charges against him in the coming days, saying there is enough evidence to support such charges.


    The suspect was taken into custody Saturday, January 19, 2019 in Carson City. Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong says he was arrested on an immigration charge after being rammed by deputies on Carson Street in the Carson Mall parking lot. The suspect had already been identified as a person of interest through the investigation and tips from the public, and had been under surveillance. That operation involved several Carson City neighborhoods.


    No information about a possible motive for the killings has been offered.

    The first killing took place January 9 or 10, 2019. 56-year-old Connie Koontz was found shot to death at her home in the Gardnerville Ranchos. She was found dead by her mother, who also lives in the home and is hard of hearing and disabled.

    January 13, 74-year-old Sophia Renken was found dead in her home about a mile away, also shot to death.

    January 16, the bodies of 81-year-old Gerald David, a former Reno Rodeo President, and his wife, 80-year-old Sharon David, were found dead in their home on La Guardia Lane in south Reno, near Zolezzi. They also had been shot to death.

    Sheriff's spokesman Bob Harmon says a neighbor had noticed something didn't seem to look right on the property, and called someone familiar with the family. That person looked around and determined there was reason to call deputies, who found the bodies inside the home.

    January 18, acting on tips, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue crews searched the southern part of the 580 corridor in Washoe Valley on the chance there might be evidence connected to the killings.

    Detectives say they did pick up some things during that search, but nothing found there led to Saturday's arrest.

    Sheriff's Offices in Washoe and Douglas County and Carson City worked closely during the week and a half of investigations with other area agencies, including Reno and Sparks Police, as well as the FBI.

    https://www.kolotv.com/content/news/...504626241.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Salvadoran man to be charged in Nevada killing spree

    By ABC 13 News

    LAS VEGAS, Nevada - A man suspected of being in the U.S. illegally shot and killed four people in Nevada over the past two weeks, including an elderly Reno couple, authorities said, and the slayings added fuel to the immigration debate.

    Wilbur Ernesto Martinez-Guzman, 19, from El Salvador, has been jailed in Carson City since Saturday on possession of stolen property, burglary and immigration charges. Authorities said they expect to file murder charges against him in Reno in the shooting deaths of a Washoe County couple and in Douglas County in the slayings of two women in Gardnerville.

    Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said federal immigration authorities told his office that Martinez-Guzman was in the country illegally. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not have details on his entry into the U.S.

    The investigation is ongoing, the sheriff said, and it was too early to comment on a possible motive.

    Investigators who had been tracking Martinez-Guzman considered him "an imminent threat" when they arrested him Saturday afternoon in the parking lot of a shopping mall.

    "We couldn't account for him Friday night, and we couldn't predict what he would do Saturday night," Furlong told The Associated Press. "It was too great a risk to the public not to make the arrest."

    Detectives had watched Martinez-Guzman go to a car wash and trash bins, raising concern that he might try to dispose of evidence connected to the slayings. He did not have a weapon when he was handcuffed, the sheriff said.

    The suspect did not yet have an attorney who could speak on his behalf, according to the sheriff.

    President Donald Trump seized on the killings as evidence of the need for his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall.

    "Four people in Nevada viciously robbed and killed by an illegal immigrant who should not have been in our Country," Trump said Monday in a tweet. "We need a powerful Wall!"

    The killings are the latest crimes Trump has cited to bring attention to the wall, which is at the center of his battle with Democrats that has shut down much of the federal government.

    Since the start of his presidency, he has highlighted crimes committed by immigrants who were here illegally, including the killing of a 32-year-old woman at a San Francisco pier in 2015. Last month, he tweeted about allegations that a man from Mexico fatally shot a California police officer.

    Many academics and Trump's critics have pushed back on the president's narrative, citing studies that have found that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the United States.

    The Nevada suspect, who was due in court Thursday, had lived in the Carson City area for about a year. His only known infraction was a speeding ticket, the sheriff said.

    "We have no information this guy has ever been on anyone's radar," Furlong said.

    The investigation began Jan. 10, when 56-year-old Connie Koontz was found dead in her home. Three days later, the body of 74-year-old Sophia Renken was discovered in her home about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from where Koontz lived, authorities said.

    On Jan. 16, the bodies of 81-year-old Gerald David and his 80-year-old wife, Sharon, were found in their home on the southern edge of Reno.

    The two were remembered as "jovial" by Tom Cates, a longtime friend who knew the Davids through Reno's rodeo and equestrian scene.

    Cates said Gerald David used his time as the Reno Rodeo Association president in 2006 to promote a breast cancer awareness campaign by getting the group's cowboys to show they were "tough enough to wear pink shirts."

    "You walk into a room and his presence will just command attention. He was a true leader," Cates said.

    Sharon David was "exuberant" and "bubbly" and "loved animals to the hills," he said. She was a former director of the rodeo.

    Renken belonged to an antique automobile club and was known as the friendly driver of a Ford Model A who was always volunteering to help.

    Robin Reedy, who was also in the Carson-Tahoe Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America, said she was surprised to learn Renken's age.

    "I would never have known she was 74 by the way she acted," she said.

    Koontz, who worked at a Walmart and as a manicurist at a local salon, was remembered by co-workers Tuesday as a positive woman who loved wearing bright colors. Her Walmart colleagues wore memorial buttons with her picture.

    She was "the only person I know that could come to work wearing lime green glasses and lime green crocs and rock it," said Teri Bower, who works at the store.

    Koontz and her daughter were best friends, Bower said, and the mother had saved up money and surprised her daughter with a trip to Las Vegas for her 21st birthday in December.

    Bower said the killings had shaken the quiet community where everyone knows everyone and big news is a pending storm "or a bear running down Main Street."

    "This does not happen around here," Bower said. "It's crazy."

    https://abc13.com/salvadoran-man-to-...spree/5102610/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Carson City Sheriff's Office arrest report contains Martinez-Guzman confession

    By Brett Fisher
    South Tahoe Now

    A probable cause arrest report released Friday by the Carson City Sheriff's Office on 19-year-old murder suspect Wilber Ernesto Martinez-Guzman contains a confession under Miranda.

    According to the arrest report, Guzman told investigators that firearms stolen from the house of Jerry and Sherri David, the elderly South Reno couple found murdered in their home, were buried in the area of Sedge Road in East Carson City.

    Martinez-Guzman said he had buried the firearms there after killing the Davids with a .22-caliber revolver, which he had stolen from the residence on a previous occasion, the arrest report said.

    Detectives combed the Sedge Road area and located freshly dug soil. After digging about 25-30 inches into the ground, investigators recovered 11 firearms from the dig site wrapped in a grey tarp.

    One of those guns was a Steyr Safe Bolt 7-by-64 "Manlicher," known to be a very rare firearm and one owned by Jerry David, whose weapon was noted to be missing from the residence, the report said.

    Other weapons recovered included the following:

    — Savage Sporter Model 23AA .22 LR with Weaver scope.
    — Cherry's Inc. GSO NC 7.62x39 with bayonet.
    — Ithaca Gun Co. M-49 .22 LR lever action rifle.
    — Remington Model 11-87 20-gauge shot gun.
    — Savage Model 93R17 .17HMR.
    — Ranger 20-gauge side-by-side shotgun.
    — Remington Model 870 Wingmaster Magnum 12-gauge.
    — Iver Johnson Arms Champion .410 Bore, 410-gauge.
    — Weatherby Mark V .270 magnum rifle with Leupold scope.
    — Remington 11-87 12-gauge.

    At the time of Martinez-Guzman's Jan. 19 arrest, investigators learned that a firearm believed to have been the weapon used in the four homicides was located in the suspect's vehicle, the report said.

    A Douglas County search warrant allowed a search of the vehicle and Martinez-Guzman's residence on Menlo Drive in Carson City.

    A High Standard Sentinel .22 LR revolver was recovered from the vehicle. An iWatch and Macintosh computer matching the description of those stolen from victim Connie Koontz of Gardnerville at the time of her murder were located in the residence, the report said.

    Several belt buckles bearing the names of the Davids were found in the residence, along with two sets of golf clubs (Cobra and Maxflight), a toolbox with hand tools, and a Milwaukee portable drill and charger, the report said.

    The name on the golf clubs matched that of a victim of residential burglary occurring on Thurman Circle in Carson City, the report said.

    According to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, Martinez-Guzman was in the United States illegally. This prohibited him from possessing firearms.

    Martinez-Guzman was arraigned Thursday in Carson City on 36 counts, including stolen property possession, burglary and prohibited person possessing a firearm.

    Koontz, 56, of Gardnerville was the first of four murder victims. Her body was discovered on Jan. 10.

    Then 74-year-old Sophia Renken was found dead, the victim of a homicide, three days later on Jan. 13 in her Gardnerville home.

    The bodies of 81-year-old Jerry David, a former Reno Rodeo president, and his wife, 80-year-old Sherri David were discovered Jan. 16 in their home on La Guardia Lane in South Reno.

    Martinez-Guzman was identified Jan. 18 as a suspect in the four homicides occurring between Douglas and Washoe counties. The next day, he was apprehended and taken into custody.

    He remains in the Carson City Detention Center on a no-bail immigration hold.

    District attorneys from Washoe and Douglas counties will be holding a noon press conference at the Washoe County District Attorney's Office in Reno Monday to discuss the possibility of charging Martinez-Guzman with murder.

    http://www.southtahoenow.com/story/0...man-confession
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Undocumented Salvadoran charged in 4 Nevada killings; death penalty possible

    RENO, Nevada (AP) - Prosecutors in Nevada said Monday they've filed murder charges that could bring the death penalty against a 19-year-old Salvadoran immigrant in four recent killings carried out over a six-day span.

    Wilber Ernesto Martinez-Guzman acted alone in the deaths of a couple in Reno and two women in their homes in nearby Gardnerville, prosecutors Mark Jackson and Chris Hicks told reporters.

    Martinez-Guzman has been jailed since his arrest Jan. 19 in the state capital, Carson City, where court documents say Martinez-Guzman admitted to sheriff's deputies that he fatally shot a Reno couple with a gun he stole from their home.

    Hicks said it could be 30 days before prosecutors decide whether to pursue the death penalty.

    "We are looking to hold an alleged murderer accountable," he said.

    Hicks added that Martinez-Guzman's immigration status had nothing to do with the criminal charges, which also included five burglary counts.

    President Donald Trump tweeted a week ago that the four killings in Nevada showed the need for his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall, which was at the center of the federal government shutdown.

    Jackson said Monday that investigators in Douglas and Washoe counties had "a high level of confidence" that Martinez-Guzman acted alone.

    Jackson alleged that Martinez-Guzman burglarized the Reno property of Gerald David, 81, and his 80-year-old wife, Sharon David, on Jan. 3 and Jan. 4.

    Martinez-Guzman stole a .22-caliber revolver during the second break-in and used it days later to kill Connie Koontz and Sophia Renken in their Gardnerville homes, Jackson said. Their bodies were found three days apart in mid-January.

    The Davids, who were prominent Reno Rodeo Association members, were found dead in their home Jan. 16 after what Jackson said was Martinez-Guzman's third break-in in six days.

    Martinez-Guzman is charged in Carson City with possessing weapons and selling jewelry belonging to several victims, and with illegally possessing a cache of rifles stolen from the Davids.

    The .22-caliber revolver was recovered from a car Martinez-Guzman was driving when he was arrested in Carson City.

    He is being held in the Carson City jail on $500,000 bail. His newly appointed public defense attorney, Karin Kreizenbeck, has declined comment.

    Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said earlier that Martinez-Guzman's only known contact with authorities was a speeding ticket last February.

    https://www.kvia.com/news/us-world/u...ible/993521867
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    Salvadoran accused of 4 Nevada killings worked for 2 victims

    By Scott Sonner and Ken Ritter
    Sacramento Bee

    RENO, NEV. - A 19-year-old Salvadoran man suspected of being in the country illegally was charged Monday with killing four people in Nevada, including a couple who employed him as a landscaper at their Reno home where he fatally shot them with a gun he stole from them earlier, authorities said.

    Wilber Ernesto Martinez-Guzman told investigators he used a .22-caliber revolver stolen from the property of 81-year-old Gerald David and 80-year-old Sharon David less than two weeks before he killed them on Jan. 16.

    "The lady was coming out. I got scared and shot at her," Martinez-Guzman is quoted telling a Washoe County detective in an affidavit filed in Reno on Monday. It alleged that he first broke into "outbuildings" or a trailer on the sprawling David property on Jan. 3 and Jan. 4 and made off with a cache of rifles and the handgun.

    Martinez-Guzman had worked for a landscaping company at the Davids' property for four months, ending last July. It was not immediately clear if the job linked him to two women he is accused of killing in nearby Gardnerville.

    The affidavit was used to obtain an arrest warrant for Martinez-Guzman, who was arrested Jan. 19 in Carson City and is jailed there on charges that he possessed weapons and other items stolen from the Davids and sold jewelry belonging to Gerald David and another victim.

    Martinez-Guzman admitted also killing Gerald David, and the affidavit alleges that his DNA was found on the .22-caliber gun also used to kill Connie Koontz and Sophia Renken in their homes. Koontz was found dead Jan. 10. Renken's body was found Jan. 13.

    The Davids were prominent Reno Rodeo Association members, and Martinez-Guzman is accused of possessing several Western-style belt buckles bearing their names stolen from their home.

    Someone using an Apple account belonging to Martinez-Guzman's mother tried to activate an Apple watch stolen from Koontz, the affidavit said.

    The mother, identified in the affidavit as Sonia Guzman, hasn't been charged with a crime. She was questioned by immigration authorities following her son's arrest and was given a hearing date, Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said.

    Guzman was the registered owner of a 2006 BMW 325i that Martinez-Guzman was driving when he was arrested, and in which authorities say they found the murder weapon.

    The .22-caliber revolver was recovered from the car, and the affidavit said a .22-caliber bullet with DNA matching Martinez-Guzman was found on the kitchen floor at the David home.

    Douglas County District Attorney Mark Jackson told reporters Monday that investigators in Douglas and Washoe counties had "a high level of confidence" that Martinez-Guzman acted alone in the killings.

    Washoe County District Attorney Chris Hicks refused to comment on his immigration status.

    President Donald Trump tweeted a week ago that the four killings in Nevada showed the need for his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall, which was at the center of the federal government shutdown.

    "What someone's status is in this country has nothing to do with how we are proceeding in this case," Hicks told reporters Monday. "We are looking to hold an alleged murderer accountable for the murders he committed. That's all."

    Hicks said it would be more than a month before prosecutors decide whether to pursue the death penalty against Martinez-Guzman.

    The 30-day clock on that decision deadline doesn't begin until he's formally arraigned in district court on the murder charges along with five burglary charges added in the new criminal complaint.

    Hicks said they intend to extradite Martinez-Guzman to Washoe County to face those charges as soon as possible and that he will be held without bail in the county jail in Reno but that his initial arraignment in Reno Justice Court has not yet been scheduled.

    He's currently being held in the Carson City jail on the theft and burglary charges on $500,000 bail. His appointed public defense attorney there, Karin Kreizenbeck, has declined comment.

    Furlong said earlier that Martinez-Guzman's only known contact with authorities was a speeding ticket last February.

    Each of the district attorneys told reporters during a news conference in Reno on Monday they would co-prosecute the case personally as their "highest priority."

    https://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-w...225176885.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    <section id="module-position-RjDjBgHHJL0">How two Douglas High grads turned lead investigators tracked down a suspect in four murders

    </section><section id="module-position-RjDjBgGP4as">DETECTIVES IN GARDNERVILLE LED THE TEAM THAT FOUND KEY CLUE IN AN APPLE WATCH
    </section>
    By Siobhan McAndrew
    Reno Gazette Journal

    Nothing about the pale pink house on the residential street stuck out as different when Douglas County Sheriff's Detective Ryan Young got out of his car at 1439 James Road in Gardnerville.


    With lavender bushes dotting the landscaped front yard and a wind chime hanging from the white porch, it could've been almost any home in the picturesque town at the foot of dramatic snow-covered mountains 50 miles south of Reno.


    But inside that home was the first victim in a killing spree that would claim four lives and traumatize Northern Nevada for days.


    The case of Connie Koontz, 56, found dead in her house on Jan. 10, was the first murder investigation Young, 32, would lead since joining the sheriff’s department in 2007.


    When Sophia Renken, 74, was found shot to death three days later, Brandon Williamson, 34, was the first detective to arrive at her house on Jan. 13 after a patrol unit called about a suspicious death.


    Young and Williamson would then combine investigations and lead a team of 12 from the Douglas County Sheriff’s department. The two murders were just a mile apart, and just minutes from where the two detectives went to high school.


    For Young, it wasn’t until after graduation from Douglas High in 2004 that a law enforcement class at Western Nevada College made him realize there wasn’t anything else he wanted to do.


    Williamson, who graduated from Douglas High in 2003, knew he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, a Concord, Calif., police officer for 30 years, so he studied criminal justice at the University of Nevada, Reno.


    “I wanted to follow his legacy.”


    Both worked in the jail and then on patrol before they were promoted to investigators in 2017.

    Their days are filled tracking down fraud, thefts, sexual assaults and burglaries. The murders of Koontz and Renken were unlike anything the modest and dedicated officers had seen in the town where it's common to leave front doors unlocked.


    “We knew we had to do everything we could for our community and the families of the victims,” Williamson said.


    When the two murders were connected to the Jan. 16 murder of a Reno couple, the hunt for clues and a suspect would span three counties and multiple police agencies.


    But it was Young and Williamson and their team that uncovered the first clue in a case that traumatized Northern Nevada for six days.


    That clue led to the arrest of Wilber Ernesto Martinez-Guzman on Jan. 19 on suspicion of the murders of Koontz, Renken and Jerry and Sherri David.


    Murder doesn’t happen in Gardnerville


    Young walked into Koontz’s house after a patrol unit called for backup. Found by her mother, Koontz was killed with a single .22 caliber gunshot to the head.

    “Everyone on the investigative team comes to a crime scene like this,” said Young, who was the first to arrive at the house the afternoon of Jan. 10. He was joined by 12 others from his department, including Williamson.


    Just days from her 57th birthday, Koontz had a laugh that was contagious and a love for all things Disney. She was a beloved customer service representative at the nearby Walmart, cared for her mother who had health problems and her daughter's dog Peanut.


    Jewelry, her computer and her Apple Watch were stolen.


    “Once you talk to the family and you know they are good people, you know you have to start figuring everything else out,” Young said.

    Young said something was different about this case. Murder is rare in Gardnerville, a town of about 6,000. On average, Douglas County, an area that covers 13 towns and fewer than 50,000 residents, sees 0.8 murders a year.


    There weren’t any murders in 2018.


    The first and only other murder investigation Young and Williamson worked on before this was in October 2017. A man was stabbed to death in his room at Hard Rock Casino in South Lake Tahoe.

    The suspect, a homeless man, is facing trial in June.


    For both, that case was just weeks after they were both promoted from working patrol to investigations.


    “The cases are so different,” Williamson said of the Hard Rock slaying.


    The two killings in Gardnerville really hit home in a place where cattle ranches and hay farms have ceded to housing developments, yet still maintains its charm.


    The yards are big enough to keep horses in the back, and it’s not uncommon to see a neighbor on horseback strolling through the streets.


    Sophia Renken found dead at home


    Williamson was on call when a patrol unit called him on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 13.

    There was a second victim. Sophia Renken was killed the same way. She was found in her bedroom at her home on Dresslerville Road about a mile from Koontz's home.


    Her property, like many in Gardnerville, was big enough to keep horses.


    She was one of those out riding her horse in the neighborhood.


    Renken had moved to Gardnerville for what draws many people in retirement. Fiercely independent, Renken rode horses, stayed busy in antique car clubs and was a budding artist after taking a painting class.


    “Now this is something scary,” Williamson said when he got to her house. “I’m calling my mom to lock her doors and windows."
    "Just do it,” he told her when she mocked him for calling the victims elderly.

    “Look, this person isn’t going around killing 30-year-old men,” he said.


    Again, a team of 12, including Young, arrived soon after Williamson. It was Sunday night and they all new knew there were no more weekends or days off from that point forward.


    Their wives, too, knew better than to expect them home. Sometimes the deputies had time to text they would be late.


    The night they got the clue that led to a suspect, they didn’t.

    According to court documents, Renken was shot four times. Investigators believe she was shot in the face in the hallway and then three more times while fleeing to her bedroom.

    “We know at this point they are connected,” Williamson said. “But we don’t know what we are looking for."


    But that night, just hours after Renken’s body was found and the investigators were in a briefing in their small office, they thought about running a check on Koontz’s stolen Apple Watch.


    “What’s an Apple Watch even do? Could someone maybe have tried to register it?” they wondered.


    No one on the force has an Apple Watch.

    "You buy a $20 watch that tells time and glows in the dark because they get ruined doing this job," Young said.

    It was just one of hundreds of leads the team started chasing. A tip line was getting hundreds of calls, most from a community eager to help.


    Deputy Steven Schultz was put in charge of contacting Apple, which he started doing hours after police found Renken's body and four days before the Reno couple, Sherri and Jerry David, would be found dead at their home on La Guardia Lane in Reno.


    Young and Williamson heard Schultz calling several times a day. He pleaded for the information faster. He was persistent.


    He applied for warrants, knowing that a tech company with privacy concerns won't just hand over that kind of information.


    Community rallies behind deputies, new sheriff


    After the murders of Koontz and Renken, Gardnerville rallied behind the sheriff’s department.

    The community had just elected a new sheriff. Sheriff Dan Coverley also graduated from Douglas High School, where he played football for his father, coach Bill Coverley.


    You might say it's a good old boys town, in the best sense of the saying.


    When Coach Coverley died, he was remembered for guiding the Douglas High Tigers to the only state football championship in school history.


    "There's no I in team," the coach told his players, according to comments on his obituary.


    For the new sheriff, it's how he runs his department.
    “I was never worried about solving this case,” Coverley said. “I was just worried about doing it before someone else was hurt.”

    Young and Williamson said they were embraced by the team, including the sheriff, who could have taken control of the investigation as he was new and would be scrutinized for how it would be handled.


    “Instead, the sheriff let us lead the investigation and offered support and advice,” Williamson said.


    “I am very proud of both of these young men,” Coverley said. “They are smart, dedicated and relentless in their investigations.”


    The relentlessness was obvious as deputies from the entire department worked leads and were out meeting with people.


    And the community noticed.

    “Every day people were dropping off homemade cookies and pizza,” Williamson said. "Platters of sandwiches would just arrive to the office."


    When the bodies of Jerry and Sherri David were found at their Reno home on Jan. 16, multiple agencies got involved.


    Sherri David was found when deputies entered an open door in the back of the house. Jerry David was found in the master bedroom. Both had been shot in the head.


    The cases became national news and what was once a small town investigation became a multi-agency manhunt, with sheriffs from Washoe County and Carson City leading the charge for a suspect.

    Police gave few details about how the cases were connected, but the string of murders now terrorized people in Reno and Gardnerville.


    Young and Williamson continued to track down leads as the stakes got higher and thoughts of this happening to someone else dominated their thoughts.

    "It is stressful," Young said. "You can't just go home and not be running through everything in your head."


    They shied away from media attention and focused on the work. When CNN came into the department on a particularly busy day, the news crew was turned away and the security guards were told not to let that happen again.


    The Apple Watch connection


    It was almost 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 18 when Apple sent an email to Schultz.

    Young, Williamson and the entire department had worked long hours for more than a week tracking down any information that could be linked to the murder of four people.


    Schultz was calm when he told Young and Williamson it was time for a briefing.


    Apple had the name of someone who had tried to connect their account to the stolen watch taken from Koontz's house.


    “We knew we had something,” Williamson said. “Of all the leads, one hit.”

    There was no shouting or high fives. Instead, Williamson and Young worked on what needed to happen next. They knew they weren't going home that night.


    "Leads have a way of popping up at the end of a shift," Young said.


    According to court documents, detectives traced the watch to Sonia Guzman, who had tried to connect a digital account to the watch after Koontz’s murder. Guzman was living in Carson City with her son, Wilber Ernesto Martinez-Guzman.


    Coverley alerted other agencies working the case on a possible suspect, and within hours, agencies were working together.


    That night, Douglas, Washoe and Carson sheriffs offices and the Federal Bureau of Investigations started surveillance on Guzman and her son.


    "Pieces started to fall in to place," Young said.


    The next day, detectives found a ring that belonged to Jerry David and jewelry from Koontz at a pawn shop in Carson City.


    “From that point on, he was never out of our sight,” Williamson said. “And less than 24 hours after getting that information from Apple, he was in custody.”


    The work is not over


    Young and Williamson say this case is far from over.

    Even after they connected the Apple Watch to suspect Martinez-Guzman, the case continues to evolve.


    Charges were filed against Martinez-Guzman in Carson City, and the district attorneys in Washoe and Douglas counties have vowed to personally prosecute the murder charges.


    Young and Williamson will spend months tracking down evidence.


    "We will still chase every lead," Williamson said. More details about the case will likely come out, painting a better picture of what happened and more about Martinez-Guzman.


    For Young and Williamson, they talk kindly about the families of Koontz and Renken, who they had to question.


    "It's the worst time in a person's life," Young said. "These are good people."


    They vow they are never leaving their town or this job.


    They won't stop working late. They will forget to text their wives, and their mothers will worry.


    "You can't go home when you think you could have stopped something," Young said. "You don't want to go home."

    https://www.rgj.com/story/news/2019/...es/2717120002/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  7. #7
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    Martinez-Guzman will face Washoe, Douglas murder charges first

    By Geoff Dornan
    Nevada Appeal

    The 36 Carson City charges against Wilber Ernesto Martinez-Guzman were put on hold Friday after prosecutors all agreed the murder charges in Washoe and Douglas counties should go forward first.

    Deputy DA Melanie Brantingham told Justice of the Peace Tom Armstrong the families of the four victims asked the murder charges be prosecuted ahead of the stolen property and burglary charges filed in the capital.

    She said all prosecutors involved agreed that's "in the best interests of judicial economy and the wishes of the family."

    Public Defender Karin Kreizenbeck said she and her client have also agreed to the plan.

    Brantingham said after the 10-minute hearing prosecutors here will review the status of their charges in July when Armstrong set a pre-trial conference and decide "whether to go forward with our charges."

    Guzman will be transferred to Washoe County next week where Washoe DA Chris Hicks and Douglas County DA Mark Jackson have agreed to a single trial on two counts of murder committed in Douglas County and two committed in Washoe County.

    Jackson said at a press conference Jan. 28 that would "ensure the rights of the victims are protected."

    "This is the best course of action in seeking justice," said Hicks.

    According to an affidavit filed in Washoe Justice Court, Guzman admitted killing two women in the Gardnerville Ranchos and shooting an elderly Reno couple.

    The criminal complaint charges him with four counts of open murder and five counts of burglary. He's accused of shooting Connie Koontz at her Douglas County home Jan. 9 or 10 and shooting Sophia Renken four times during a burglary at her residence in the Ranchos Jan. 12.

    He's also charged with shooting Gerald and Sharon David at their south Reno home on Jan. 15 or 16.

    According to the affidavit he admitted taking a .22-caliber revolver form the David home on Jan. 3 and using it to kill both Koontz and Renken.

    "He additionally admitted that he used this same revolver in the murder of the "elderly couple' from Reno," the affidavit states.

    Judge Armstrong asked Brantingham to inform him when Guzman is transferred to Washoe County by Feb. 15.

    "If he's not transferred by then, I want to know what happened," he said.

    Washoe and Douglas prosecutors haven't yet decided whether to seek the death penalty in the case.

    https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/cr...-city-charges/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  8. #8
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    Death penalty to be sought for illegal immigrant in Nevada killings

    By Max Michor
    Las Vegas Review-Journal

    Prosecutors in Douglas and Washoe counties will seek the death penalty for a 20-year-old undocumented immigrant accused of killing four people in Northern Nevada.

    “We reserve the death penalty for the worst of the worst,” Washoe County District Attorney Chris Hicks said at a press conference on Thursday. “We use it sparingly.”

    Wilber Ernesto Martinez-Guzman was indicted on 10 counts of burglary, robbery, possession of a stolen weapon and murder on Wednesday.

    Martinez-Guzman, an immigrant from El Salvador who entered the country illegally, is accused of shooting and killing Gerald David, 81, and his wife, Sharon, 80, in Reno as well as Connie Koontz, 56, and Sophia Renken, 74, in Gardnerville.

    The shootings took place during a week-long robbery spree in January.

    Martinez-Guzman faces charges in both Washoe and Douglas Counties, but was transferred to Washoe first to face the murder charges there.

    The Washoe County district attorney’s office sought a grand jury indictment to expedite the trial against Martinez-Guzman, who waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

    “This is a priority because of the victims, the victims’ families and the community,” Hicks said at a news conference held after Martinez-Guzman’s indictment was announced

    Jackson said both offices were in contact with the victims’ families, who agreed with the decision.

    Both offices considered Martinez-Guzman’s age and lack of criminal record when deliberating on the decision. His immigration status was not considered, Hicks said, adding that the offices were not aware of whether Martinez-Guzman had any criminal record outside the United States.

    “After weighing all of the aggravating circumstances and all of the known mitigating circumstances, it was our decision that we would proceed with the death penalty,” Jackson said.

    https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/...lings-1617933/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  9. #9
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    Trial date set in April 2020 for suspect in murder of Gardnerville women, Reno couple

    By Jeff Munson
    Carson Now

    A trial date in April 2020 has been set for Wilber Martinez-Guzman, the 19-year-old accused of killing four people during a 10-day murder spree through Douglas and Washoe counties.

    On Tuesday, Martinez-Guzman had an arraignment in Washoe County District Court, where he waived his right to a speedy trial. He pled not guilty to murdering four people in Reno and Gardnerville in January. He also pled not guilty for burglary and possession of stolen weapons.

    According to Washoe District Attorney Chris Hicks and Douglas County DA Mark Jackson, the trial and penalty could take up to two months.

    The trial date has been set for April 6, 2020, which will be 15 months after the murders took place.

    At a press conference last week, prosecutors announced they would be seeking the death penalty due to the aggravating circumstances of the crime.

    Washoe County Public Defender John Arrascada has been assigned to defend Martinez-Guzman.

    According to prosecutors, there will be monthly updates on the status of the case, which will involve both prosecutors and Defense Attorney Arrascada. Updates will include any developments on the case.

    The first update is set for April 29, 2019.

    Martinez-Guzman still faces charges in Carson City relating to attempting to sell stolen property obtained from the victims during the robbery. He originally also faced over thirty counts relating to possessing stolen firearms, however those have been added to the charges filed in the Douglas/Washoe trial.

    He will face those charges after the trial and sentencing in Washoe County District Court.

    Martinez-Guzman was apprehended in Carson City on Jan. 19 in the Carson Mall Parking Lot after he was stopped following a surveillance investigation. Law enforcement agents were concerned he may try to dispose of evidence linking him to the crimes and took him into custody.

    The four victims were Connie Koontz of Gardnerville, Sophia Renken of Gardnerville, and Gerald and Sharon David of South Reno.

    Law Enforcement announced in a press release earlier this year that Martinez-Guzman had admitted to the murders, and had admitted to stealing a .22 pistol from the Davids on a previous date before using the gun to kill the four victims, coming back to the Davids house last.

    After the Davids were killed he also allegedly stole an additional 11 guns from their residence and buried them in Carson City wrapped in a tarp. The Davids property was burglarized a total of three times, according to the DA.

    https://carsonnow.org/story/03/19/20...en-reno-couple
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  10. #10
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    Undocumented immigrant accused of four murders in Nevada said he needed money to buy meth: authorities

    By David Boroff
    New York Daily News

    An undocumented immigrant accused of fatally shooting four people in Nevada during a 10-day period in January told police he robbed and killed them because he needed money to buy meth.

    Wilber Ernesto Martinez-Guzman, 20, repeatedly called himself an “idiot” as he confessed to the murders, according to grand jury testimony by Detective Stefanie Brady of the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office.

    The detective told a grand jury earlier this month that Martinez-Guzman was smiling and giggling as he initially denied any wrongdoing during the three-hour interrogation. However, he would break into tears and later say through a Spanish interpreter he had “done something that’s unforgivable.”

    “He said he needed the money for the meth and it was the meth,” Brady testified.

    The 268-page grand jury transcript, obtained by The Associated Press, was filed late Tuesday in Washoe District Court. Martinez-Guzman was indicted by the grand jury on multiple charges, including four counts of murder.

    A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf on Tuesday.

    The defendant is from El Salvador, and federal officials do not know how or when he crossed the border. President Trump has said the case shows the need for a border wall.

    Prosecutors say he killed Gerald David, 81, and his 80-year-old wife, Sharon David, a prominent Reno couple who had hired Martinez-Guzman as a landscaper. Connie Koontz and Sophia Renken were killed in their homes in Gardnerville.

    District Attorneys Chris Hicks of Washoe County and Mark Jackson of Douglas County have said they will seek the death penalty.

    https://www.nydailynews.com/news/cri...euy-story.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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