A man awaiting trial on a capital murder charge for allegedly hiring two men to kill his ex-wife will have to hire an attorney after it was determined that he no longer qualifies for a court appointed attorney.
Jose Arnoldo Rodriguez, 38, of Brownsville, learned this Thursday at a pre-trial hearing where he was trying to get his $2.1 million bond reduced.
Rodriguez appeared before 138th state District Court Judge Gabriela Garcia who told Rodriguez and his wife that according to Cameron County Pre-Trial Services, he no longer qualified for a court appointed attorney meaning that his attorney Ernesto Gamez would no longer be able to represent him, unless Rodriguez hired him.
“I am bound by what pre-trial services is telling me,” Garcia told Rodriguez and his wife, Cynthia Olvera.
Rodriguez, 38, and suspects Charly Angel Carrillo Torres, 35, and Jonathan Xavier Roman Martinez, 34, are each charged with murder for causing Adela Gonzalez Martinez’s death- Rodriguez’s ex-wife -, court documents show. All three of the men have pleaded not guilty.
According to grand jury indictments and criminal charges, investigators allege that Rodriguez hired two men to kill the mother of his children. A motive for her killing is unknown. The men charged in her death are refusing to talk, police said.
During Thursday’s pre-trial hearing Olvera said Rodriguez wanted to keep Gamez as his attorney but the family was trying to figure where to get the money to pay him or any other attorney, for that matter.
“I can certainly see why you want Mr. Gamez, but you have to pay Mr.Gamez,” Garcia told Olvera.
Garcia questioned if they were having a problem finding money to pay for an attorney, how would they be able to come up with funding for a reduced bond. Olvera replied that she had a deposit for the bond, but no bond companies would allow her to make payments.
Garcia ordered that Rodriguez would remain in custody at a Cameron County jail until his next pre-trial hearing scheduled for Jan.20. His trial is scheduled to begin April 13.
Olvera asked if Rodriguez’s financial situation could be reviewed again by Pre-Trial Services, and Garcia replied it would be up to Pre-Trial Services to come before the court again to say whether or not Rodriguez will qualify for a court appointed attorney.
According to a Brownsville Police Department incident report, Jose Arnoldo Rodriguez arrived at his ex-wife Adela Gonzalez Martinez’s home on Dana Avenue in Brownsville between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Nov. 2, 2020, to drop off their two children. His mother and the children were with him.
In the report, Rodriguez states he tried to call his ex-wife several times but she never answered the phone.
Upon arriving at her apartment at the 2200 block of Dana Avenue, Rodriguez noticed the door to her residence was open and he called police, said investigator Martin Sandoval, spokesman for the Brownsville Police Department.
The call to police came in as a welfare concern — when a citizen calls for police to respond in reference to safety and health concerns.
According to the incident report, police found Gonzalez Martinez lying on the bed with her legs falling to the right side of it. An officer tried to wake her up but she did not move. Another officer saw that a pillow had been placed on Gonzalez Martinez’s face. “Officer Silva then removed the pillow from her face and I (Officer Goodrich) observed that Adela had swelling and bruising on the right side of her face. “I observed the pillow to have a circular blood stain. I also observed that Adela had a cranial caving in the center top portion of her head,” the report reads.
The report states the apartment was checked, nothing seemed out of place and that it was organized and clean.
EMS personnel were dispatched to the scene and after they checked Gonzalez Martinez they said she was dead. The time was 3:02 a.m., the reports read.
Cameron County Justice of the Peace Precinct 2, Place 3 Mary Esther Sorola was called and shortly after her arrival she ordered an autopsy on Gonzalez Martinez. She was pronounced dead at 3:50 a.m.
