Othello man in jail on $1 million bail in connection to double murder

By CHERYL SCHWEIZER

Staff Writer

OTHELLO — An Othello man is in the Adams County Jail on $1 million bail in connection with the murders of two Othello women.

Mauricio Nava-Garibay, 28, was booked on two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of removing or concealing a body, according to a statement of probable cause filed with Adams County Superior Court. He was arrested Thursday night.

Adams County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the scene of an abandoned vehicle at about 6:30 a.m. Thursday, according to the Adams County Sheriff’s Office. The car allegedly had blood and hair on the driver’s side, the probable cause statement said.

Deputies opened the car door and found dismembered human remains, the statement said. More human remains were found in the trunk. The words “vomito 13” were on cloth around some remains.

Deputies identified the car’s owner, Dora Elia Martinez, 57, who was not at home when deputies went there.

A man at the scene was later identified as Nava-Garibay, who allegedly knew Martinez.

According to the probable cause statement, Nava-Garibay agreed to talk with deputies. He said he got in a fight with Martinez, who hit him. A few minutes later Nava-Garibay asked her to enter the garage and car, and when she entered the car, stabbed and strangled her, records stated.

Another woman, Guadalupe Martinez, 30, who lived in the house, came into the garage, and Nava-Garibay said he pushed her down and stabbed her in the neck. She was said to have been autistic, records stated.

Nava-Garibay said he dismembered the bodies because they were too heavy to lift and drove the car to West Charla Lane, where he abandoned it.

Nava-Garibay disposed of the clothes he was wearing and the knife he allegedly used on the women, which were later recovered by sheriff’s deputies, the probable cause statement said.