Man confesses after two women’s body parts found in car in Othello, deputies say

Adams County Sheriff’s Office deputies have arrested a 28-year-old man they believe killed and dismembered two women whose remains they discovered in Othello Thursday morning.

On the summer solstice, Dora and Guadalupe Martinez were swaying together, singing “La Bamba” on a patio as a little girl circled on her pink bike, per Dora Martinez’s Facebook timeline.

Dora Martinez, a 57-year-old grandmother, spent the last months of her life cradling babies, watching her youngest family members race up and down an inflatable backyard water slide and reflecting on another year of sobriety, according to her Facebook posts.

Guadalupe Martinez, 30, whose relationship to Dora is unclear in court documents, struggled with autism, having the “mental capacity of a five or six year old,” court documents say.

Early Thursday morning, deputies found remains they believe to be the two women scattered between the cabin and trunk of the 2014 Honda Accord registered to Dora Martinez, the documents say.

A 911 caller told dispatch they’d seen blood on the hood of that car parked on the 2200 block of Charla Road in Othello, a dirt alley that serves two small homes neighboring a lot of dry sagebrush.

Through the windows, deputies spotted what appeared to be flesh on the floor of the car. When they opened the doors, they realized they’d found human body parts. Later, Washington State Patrol Crime Lab team members discovered more in the trunk.

Surveillance footage showed a man walking away from the scene, court documents say, and deputies suspected he could be Dora Martinez’s boyfriend, 28-year-old Mauricio Nava-Garibay.

Around 4 p.m. Thursday, Nava-Garibay waived his rights and agreed to an interview, according to probable cause documents.

He told deputies he got into an argument with Dora Martinez Wednesday evening at her home on the 1300 block of Cypress Street. She hit him in the face, he said. Five minutes later, he told her he had a gift for her in the garage.

After she sat down in the rear passenger seat of her car, he told deputies he stabbed her several times, punched her and strangled her with his belt and an extension cord, the documents say.

Then Guadalupe Martinez walked into the garage. Nava-Garibay told deputies he pushed her and she fell on the concrete floor. He hit Guadalupe Martinez’s head against the floor, then he cut her neck, he told deputies, according to the documents.

Nava-Garibay said he was too weak to lift them into the car so he dismembered them. He described the route he took from Dora Martinez’s home to Charla Road, where he left the scene and walked back to her house, according to court documents.

Three miles from Charla Road, a 911 caller reported finding bloody clothing in the trash at 2049 Bench Road. Nava-Garibay told deputies he dumped his clothes, a knife and other blood-soaked items there, according to the probable cause documents.

When he was taken into custody, his tank top appeared to have blood on it, documents say. Nava-Garibay told deputies he’d worn it during the killing, the documents say.

Nava-Garibay was booked into the Adams County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder and could face more charges, according to an Adams County Sheriff’s Office news release.