An Edinburg man involved in a 2017 fatal kidnapping was sentenced to prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of murder at the beginning of March.
Hector Ruben Guerra, 49, was sentenced to 40 years in prison with over five years in credit following his guilty plea for the murder of 32-year-old Jose Angel Martinez who was kidnapped and dragged through the streets before having his throat slit.
Guerra had been scheduled for a court hearing on Monday.
Martinez was eventually dismembered by his roommate, Ricardo Moreno, who was also kidnapped and forced to cut the body: all details revealed during the murder trial of the mastermind behind the heinous crime.
Guerra’s sentencing comes nearly a year after 37-year-old Gabino Salinas’ trial where he was found guilty of capital murder and was sentenced to life without parole and over a month after Benjamin Chavez Sanchez, 26, was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Jan. 30 for his role in the killing.
Guerra is the third person involved in the murder of Martinez to be sentenced.
On Nov. 8, 2017, Salinas, Sanchez, Guerra and 32-year-old Sandy Lutz assaulted Martinez and Moreno at their Edinburg residence where they were both kidnapped and placed inside Salinas’ Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Surveillance video shows Martinez tied to the Jeep and being dragged through the street before being taken into an orchard where his throat was slit.
During the trial, the prosecutor stated that Salinas attacked Martinez because he believed he was responsible for a home invasion that occurred earlier that year which resulted in Salinas losing his leg after being shot.
According to Moreno’s testimony, he and Martinez were stabbed multiple times while at the orchard, though he couldn’t see much as he was blindfolded.
Moreno stated that he was placed on top of Martinez and felt him stop breathing before arriving at the ranch where they dismembered his body.
He added that he and the group of perpetrators drank beer and smoked crack after the fact and eventually moved to a different ranch where Moreno was ordered to bury Martinez’s body in a makeshift grave.
Moreno was eventually let go and called police a couple of days later. Unbeknownst to him, Salinas and Sanchez had been taken into custody.
Lutz is the final defendant in the case and has pleaded not guilty.
