Trial starts in execution-style killings of teens
SANTA FE — Ricardo Martinez was tired of Venancio Cisneros not paying the money he owed him for drugs, so he carried out a plan to murder Cisneros in October 2014. And Ana Marie Ojeda, Cisneros’ 13-year-old girlfriend, also was killed just because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
That’s how prosecutors described their case against Martinez, 22, as his
double-homicide case got underway Tuesday. But Martinez’s defense attorney says his client had nothing to do with the killings and that he only fled from Santa Fe to Colorado after being named as a suspect, to wait there while the situation in Santa Fe calmed down.
Martinez allegedly carried out the execution-style slayings of Cisneros, 18, and Ojeda on Oct. 24, 2014, on East Ramada Way in the Valle Vista subdivision south of Santa Fe. Ojeda, who at the time was reported missing by her father, was shot once in the back of her head, and Cisneros died of three shots, also to the head. Martinez is believed to have been sitting in the back seat and shot Ojeda first. Both victims were found with their seat belts on.
Martinez’s trial in state District Court is expected to last three weeks with testimony from more than 100 witnesses. Assistant District Attorney Todd Bullion said in opening arguments Cisneros owed Martinez money for cocaine. “This is something that was planned, premeditated and carried out,” Bullion said of the killing of Cisneros.
He added: “There was no reason (Martinez) would kill AnaMarie. AnaMarie didn’t owe him money. He kills her because she could have been a witness.”
Bullion also said that Martinez’s uncle, Melicendro Martinez, acted as the getaway driver. U.S. marshals and Santa Fe County deputies arrested Martinez in a Colorado Springs apartment about three weeks later. Melicendro Martinez was arrested at the same time, for a probation violation in an unrelated 2009 Albuquerque case. Melicendro Martinez isn’t charged in the murders but is expected to testify.
Bullion said Ricardo Martinez admitted to Santa Fe County Detective David Jaramillo that he fled to Colorado because of the murders. But defense attorney Mark Earnest said during his opening statement that Ricardo and Melicendro were visiting family in Colorado and said it was Melicendro’s idea to go there. “He never said they participated in these murders,” Earnest said. “Ricky wanted to go until things died down around here.”
Bullion also said in court that Ricardo told fellow county jail inmate Joseph Montoya while awaiting trial that he killed Cisneros because he owed him money and that Melicendro Martinez was the getaway driver. Montoya also is expected to testify, but defense attorney Earnest said Montoya was an “opportunist” because he’s currently facing three felonies in Albuquerque and had his lawyer contact prosecutors here just to strike a deal.
Monday’s proceedings included testimony from several Santa Fe County deputies. Jurors were also shown lapel camera footage and photos of the crime scene, which showed Cisneros and Ojeda slumped over in the Toyota Corolla with blood on their bodies and inside the car.