'Jealous' father accused of stalking, killing police officer daughter

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A Utah man, who allegedly stalked and obsessively texted his sheriff’s deputy daughter, has been accused of killing her.

Marbella Martinez was found dead on Aug. 1 — less than six months after the 25-year-old was sworn in as a corrections officer.

At the time, investigators with the Tooele Police Department noted her death as “suspicious,” NBC News reported.

Her father, Hector Ramon Martinez-Ayala, 54, of Tooele, confessed to his brother in a text message that he made “a big mistake” before allegedly fleeing the country and using his daughter’s bank card to withdraw money, prosecutors said in court documents.

The victim had lived with her father in the city, west of Salt Lake City, until the patriarch’s escalating obsessive texting, surveillance and stalking drove her to move into a hotel for a few days, according to the documents.

The stalking behaviour had been going on for months, it was alleged, and Martinez-Ayala was “becoming increasingly obsessed and controlling” of his daughter.

The “text messages from the defendant to the victim are more of the nature of a jealous lover than a father,” according to court records.

Martinez also found a bag of her underwear in his room, prosecutors said.

In mid-July, Martinez-Ayala “purchased a tracking device and hidden spy cameras,” placed the tracker on her vehicle, and later used it to locate her while she was on a date in a hiking area, according to the allegations.

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Investigators said that when she returned to the house on the morning of July 31, he strangled her, NBC News reported.

Surveillance cameras on the property were disabled or disconnected, but Martinez-Ayala left plenty of digital evidence, including location data on his phone, as well as a text message to his brother that afternoon, according to investigators.

“My brother, you know how much I love you, I made a big mistake, an unforgivable sin, now I’m too scared, and I don’t know what to do,” the message said, according to the police documents.

“I think I will never come back.”

The alleged killer travelled to California, then Texas, before allegedly using his twin brother’s identification to get out of the country.

Martinez-Ayala’s “last known location” was outside the United States, according to KSL.

In addition to murder, Martinez-Ayala has been charged with offences including stealing a bank card and a misdemeanor identity theft.

He has not yet been found.

“Deputy Martinez was a dedicated member of our Sheriff’s Office family,” Sheriff Rosie Rivera said in a statement last month.

“In her short time with us, she became a cherished friend and an integral part of our team,” Rivera added.

“Her untimely and tragic death is a profound loss for us all. Our thoughts and prayers are with her loved ones during this heartbreaking time.”