Suspect arrested in Royal Slope murder

Second suspect at large

ROYAL CITY - A Mexican national was arrested Thursday for the mid-September murder of an unidentified man in the Royal Slope area and a second suspect remains at large.

A hunter located the corpse of a Hispanic man, in his late 20s or early 30s, near a blood splattered Mazda van by Frenchman Hills Road near Royal City Sept. 15.

The Grant County Sheriff's Office determined the man was murdered and the county coroner determined he died from multiple blows from a blunt object.

Royal City orchard worker Felix Cortez Lopez, 20, was arrested for murder after a witness reportedly advised the Grant County Sheriff's Office he saw Cortez Lopez and another man shortly after the slaying, said Grant County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy John Turley.

The second orchard worker is named as Margarito Torres Lopez, 27, a Mexican national, and he is being sought by the sheriff's office. He remains at large with an existing warrant for his arrest as a material witness to the murder, according to Turley.

A third Mexican national, working at the same orchard, identified the two suspects and is being held as a materiel witness, Turley said. Cortez Lopez and Torres Lopez are related.

Law enforcement used information from the witness and other orchard workers to locate Cortez Lopez at an apartment complex in Mount Vernon, he said.

The Mount Vernon Police Department assisted the investigation by conducting surveillance at the apartment and ultimately arresting Cortez Lopez, Turley said.

The three men are Mexican nationals and unless they are arrested, there is nothing to stop them from going back to their home country, he said.

Documents collected from the blood splattered 1990 Mazda van led investigators to the suspects, Turley said.

"Lab technicians processed the Mazda van which was literally covered with blood splatter inside and out," he said.

Law enforcement obtained a possible first name of the victim, Turley advised. The sheriff's office is unable to release the name due the nature of the ongoing investigation and inability to contact the victim's relatives to notify them of his death.

Investigators continue to work on determining a motive for the murder.