DNA links second man to murder, police say
After a six-year investigation, DNA recovered from spit and a juice bottle linked two men to the murder of a Coral Springs man, court documents say.
Jason David Martinez, 28, of New York, was arrested there in October and extradited to Broward County in February on suspicion of committing the 2011 stabbing murder of Michael Hamilton, 31, of Coral Springs.
Kadian Andre Garfield Roper, 37, of Coral Springs, was taken into custody Wednesday for the same offense. Bothmen are being held without bond in a Broward County jail.
Hamilton was last seen alive at 8:30 p.m. July 9, 2011, at the apartment he shared with a roommate in the 9800 block of Northwest 33rd Street.
Early the next morning, the roommate came home to a bloody scene and found Hamilton dead on the floor. Hamilton’s wallet was empty of cash and lie beside him. Also missing was about $360, marijuana worth $100 and an airsoft rifle. Blood was spattered throughout much of the living room and kitchen, an arrest warrant said.
DNA recovered from a portion of a latex glove and blood drops found near Hamilton’s body were compared with DNA samples taken from scores of witnesses, police said. It appeared police were looking for two people whowere in the apartment that night.
Martinez told investigators he had sold cocaine and marijuana to Hamilton in the past and was fishing on the Pompano Beach pier at the time his friend was killed, an arrest warrant said. Detectives noticed a cut in Martinez’s palm.
A cellphone connected to Martinez was traced the night of the killing to a tower in an area near Hamilton’s apartment in Coral Springs. Though his alibi was that he was in Pompano Beach, the phone did not ping off a tower in that city, police said.
Detectives traveled to New York to try to get a DNAs wab from Martinez, but he declined. They followed him to a Whole Foods Market on the UpperWest Side of Manhattan and when he discarded a lemonade bottle, they seized it. A DNA profile obtained from the bottle matched a profile in multiple blood drops at the crime scene, the warrant said.
Local authorities and the U.S. Marshals arrested Martinez on Long Island and he was brought to Florida.
Onthe night of themurder, Martinez, holding a knife, and Roper were seen entering Hamilton’s apartment, planning to burglarize the home, a witness told police. After about 15 minutes, the men left the apartment and one carried an airsoft rifle.
Martinez told a witness that he had killed Hamilton, the warrant states.
On Monday, Coral Springs detectives began trailing Roper. After he left a Publix supermarket in the city on Tuesday, Roper spat on the ground. One detective guarded the saliva until another could arrive to swab it for DNA, the warrant said.
The next day, a Broward sheriff’s crime lab technician linked the saliva to the glove found in Hamilton’s apartment, and police arrested Roper.
Martinez has filed a plea of not guilty. His attorney, Michael Gottlieb of Fort Lauderdale, could not be reached for comment.
A lawyer for Roper could not be identified.
Roper has implicated himself and Martinez in the killing, Sgt. Carla Kmiotek said Friday in a news release.
Coral Springs police have scheduled a news conference for Monday afternoon to discuss the case.
The agency asks anyone with information about the case to call Detective Brian Koenig at 954-346-1229 or by email at bkoenig@coralsprings.org.