The arrest of a suspected immigrant in four murders in Nevada draws Trump's attention



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On the night of January 10, a person entered a house nestled near forests on the northwestern border of Nevada and shot and killed 56-year-old Connie Koontz, authorities said. . Three days later, under the guise of darkness, someone entered another Douglas County home about a kilometer down the road and killed 74-year-old Sophia Renken.

Three days later, Washoe County Sheriff's deputies raided a house. about 40 miles further north on La Guardia Lane. They found Gerald David, 81, and his wife, Sharon David, 80, both shot. they too were dead.

For nine days, law enforcement officials from across the region came together to reassure and prepare residents shaken by what prosecutors would call "brutal murders". the authorities said; turn on the outside lights; Keep your cell phones close at hand.

On Sunday, tenth day of region wide panic, they were able to deliver soothing news: a suspect was in custody; they believed that the man, whom they identified to varying degrees as Wilbur or Wilber Martinez-Guzman, was responsible for the four homicides.

Martinez-Guzman, aged 19 or 20, was arrested Saturday afternoon in a house for burglary for crime and immigration, Sheriff Ken Furlong of Carson City said, although prosecutors added that he had been arrested. they had the intention of charging him with the murder. Law enforcement officials have not discussed the motive for the murders.

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Wilbur Martinez-Guzman is suspected of four recent homicides in Nevada. Credit Sheriff's Office of Carson City, via Associated Press

] According to Sheriff Furlong, immigration officials have informed law enforcement officials that Mr. Martinez-Guzman had been in the Carson City area for about a year, but that it "was probably in the United States illegally and could be detained." that he is under the control of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which, according to Sherif Furlong, prevented him from being released on bail. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"Four people in Nevada were viciously stolen and killed by an illegal immigrant who should not have been in our country," President Trump said Monday in a tweet. "We Need a Powerful Wall!"

The revelation that Mr. Martinez-Guzman may be illegally in the United States has plunged the case into a series of high-profile murders that President Trump has used to support his arguments on immigration the need for a wall along the country's southwestern border. The dispute over the funding of such a wall remains at the center of a government closure.

Meanwhile, the friends and relatives of the four Nevada victims – some of whom were accompanying the police at Sunday's press conference – were left to mourn.

Eddie England, 70, who met Ms. Renken through the Carson Valley Chapter of the Carson Valley Antique Automobile, said in an interview on Tuesday that four lives could have been to be saved if Mr. Martinez-Guzman had been expelled from the country.

described Ms. Renken as a strong, independent woman who drove a 1930's Model A Ford. However, she moved to Gardnerville in Douglas County a few years ago to get closer to people – a situation which, in his opinion, would be safer, said Mr. England.

"And this"

"It's hard to take," he said.

Alan Squailia, a friend of Mr. David, described Gerald and his wife as "ruthless people." "Who were active servants of the community and animal lovers.

"If you needed a friend and somebody to help you, it was this couple," said Squailia, 75.

Looking at a picture of Mr. Martinez-Guzman, Mr. Squailia stated that he could imagine that Mr. David would have invited the young man to his home when he had sought help .

"The whole city of Reno is devastated by this," he said. . "We still can not cope."

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