DENVER — A man wanted on a first-degree murder warrant in connection with a homicide in Denver was arrested earlier this month in New Mexico following a shoplifting call.
According to the Las Cruces Police Department, Oscar Martinez was arrested around 8 p.m. on Aug. 13. Police contacted him that night near the intersection of Roadrunner Parkway and Foothills Road as they were looking for a shoplifting suspect.
Police said Martinez matched the description of the suspect from the theft at a nearby Walgreens store. After police identified Martinez, they found he had an active warrant for a homicide that occurred on or before Aug. 1, 2024, in Denver.
According to court documents obtained by 9NEWS Investigates, Martinez was wanted in connection with the killing of a woman whose body was found in a tent by the South Platte River near the 3500 block of Rockmont Drive on Aug. 1. An autopsy found that her cause of death was strangulation. The coroner's office noted she could have been killed up to two days before her body was found.
When investigators spoke with the victim's daughters they said she was in an abusive relationship with someone named "Oscar" or "Angel," the arrest affidavit from Denver Police says.
They specifically noted that he had previously choked the victim, the affidavit says. Neither had ever met or seen the man in person, but one of them was able to provide police with a photo of the man their mother was in a relationship with.
According to the affidavit, the victim met "Oscar" in New Mexico and he wanted her to come to Denver with him. Investigators were eventually able to locate security footage from a Walmart taken on July 29 that showed the victim with a man who appeared to be Martinez.
On the day the woman's body was found a man called 911 to report he found the body, the affidavit says. The caller said he believed the woman had been dead for about two days and said his name was "Chris."
The caller did not remain on the scene or speak with investigators. They compared that call to a June call made to 911 by Martinez and determined that Martinez had likely made the call to report the body, the affidavit says.
Martinez was being held without bond at the Dona Ana County Detention Center in New Mexico and was booked into the Denver County Jail on Aug. 27. He's set to make his first court appearance Thursday morning.
