Othello man booked on murder charges

RITZVILLE — An Othello man was booked into the Adams County Jail on two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of removing or concealing a body following the discovery of remains of two bodies in a car near Othello on Thursday.

Mauricio Nava-Garibay, 28, was arrested Thursday night, according to a statement of probable cause filed with Adams County Superior Court.

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

Deputies opened a car door and found dismembered human remains, the statement said. More human remains were found in the trunk. The victims, two women, have not been identified.

Deputies identified the car’s owner, a woman, and she was not home when officers went there.

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

According to the probable cause statement, Nava-Garibay agreed to talk with deputies. He said he got in a fight with the woman who owned the vehicle, who hit him. A few minutes later, Nava-Garibay asked the woman to enter the garage, and when she entered the car, stabbed and strangled her. Another woman came into the garage, and, Nava-Garibay said, he pushed her down and stabbed her in the neck.

According to the probable cause statement, he 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 they were later recovered by sheriff’s deputies, the probable cause statement said.