Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Police say man attempted to dismember body, set it on fire

Updated Tuesday, May 26, 2015 | 4:35 p.m.

Click to enlarge photo

Nathanael Martinez

A man arrested on a murder count after a woman was found dead at his apartment Thursday told police she tried to charge him for sex, and he attempted to dismember and light the body on fire, according to a Metro Police arrest report.

Police discovered the body under a rug and blanket in a bathtub about 6 p.m. Thursday in the 4000 block of South Arville Street, near Flamingo Road, police said.

The woman was identified as 25-year-old Marissa Shalesa Gonzales by the Clark County Coroner's Office. Her city of residence as well as the official cause and manner of her death have not yet been determined, the Coroner's Office said.

A man called police Thursday evening to report a dead woman in his nephew’s bathtub, and he put his nephew, Nathanael Martinez, on the phone, the report said.

Martinez told the dispatcher he and the woman met Wednesday night and went to his apartment, where they had sex before getting into a fight, according to the report.

He told police the two met on the Strip and took a cab back to the apartment he shares with his uncle, police said.

The two had consensual sex, he said, and the woman later demanded money, grabbing a knife from a counter when he said he couldn’t pay, according to the report.

He said she demanded to see his wallet but that it was empty, and when he told her to leave, she locked the deadbolt on the apartment door, the report said.

When she tried to chain the door, he put her in a chokehold, and she went unconscious, according to the report. He said he planned to put her outside but couldn’t lift her, the report said.

The uncle told police he arrived home and the chain was on the door, the report said.

He saw Martinez and the woman on the floor of the living room and told his nephew she had to leave, the report said.

The uncle went to sleep and later left for his second job; when he returned, he smelled smoke, the report said.

Martinez told his uncle he burned something on the stove, but the uncle believed Martinez had been smoking marijuana and checked his nephew’s bathroom, where he found the body, the report said.

Martinez said the woman overdosed but later told his uncle she was a prostitute and demanded money, the report said.

He told police he couldn’t awaken her after his uncle arrived home the first time, so he dragged her into his room and went to sleep, the report said.

When he woke up and realized she was dead, he tried to cut off her arms and legs but felt bad, so he tried to light her body on fire with lighter fluid from the barbecue, the report said.

He then changed his mind and turned on the shower to put out the fire before going for a walk around the apartment complex, according to the report.

He hid her clothes and purse and threw a hammer used in the attempted dismemberment into a dumpster, the report said.

Martinez was arrested and booked into the Clark County jail on a murder count last week, police said.

He is scheduled to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court Wednesday morning, according to court records.

The name of his attorney was not immediately available.

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