Victoria Martens Part 1

Listener discretion is advised. In Albuquerque, NM, a tragedy shook the nation to its core, having everyone questioning how someone could do such a thing, to the case being flipped upside down on its head. Trigger warnings for this case include sexual abuse, dismemberment, and harm to a child. This is the case of Victoria Martens.

Source Material:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KqOHk0HZYenIy5L3X0xqmGyzB6IsPxGAU5F_TjmRCjc/edit?usp=sharing

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Transcript

Hey, all my fellow Crime Connoisseurs, I'm your host, Grace D! Today's case is brutal but so essential that it needs to be told. This will be a two-parter. Listener discretion is advised. In Albuquerque, NM, a tragedy shook the nation to its core, having everyone questioning how someone could do such a thing, to the case being flipped upside down on its head. Trigger warnings for this case include sexual abuse, dismemberment, and harm to a child. This is the case of Victoria Martens.

On Wednesday, August 23, 2006, Michelle Martens gave birth to a little girl named Victoria. Victoria's father, Kyle Martinez, was not in the picture. According to Michelle, when she called Kyle from the hospital after Victoria was born, Kyle said he didn't want anything to do with either of them, so Michelle didn't list him as the father on Victoria's birth certificate.

Three months after having Victoria, Michelle started dating Jason Oetting, who took on helping raise Victoria. Two years later, the couple welcomed a son into the world, Matthew. Matthew and Victoria loved each other, and the four of them became a little family. Unfortunately, in 2014, when Victoria was 8 years old, Michelle and Jason called it quits. 

On Tuesday, August 23, 2016, Victoria was celebrating a special birthday. She was finally in the double digits, a huge deal for a kid! Victoria went to school that day, and her classmates celebrated her big milestone with a party. When Victoria got home from school, she called her grandparents, Michelle's parents John and Pat Martens, on the phone and told them all about her day and the party her class had for her. Little did John and Pat know this would be the last time they would speak with their granddaughter.

The plan was to celebrate Victoria's birthday after school the next day, on Wednesday, when the family could get together. From the visitation agreement, Matthew was with Jason on Victoria's birthday. 

In the early morning hours of Wednesday, August 24, horror struck Apartment 808 in the Arroyo Villas. Fabian Gonzales went to a neighbor's apartment and started banging on the door around 4 am. Rachel Scott and her husband awoke to the banging and found Fabian at their doorstep with a black eye and blood on his shorts.

Fabian wanted them to call 911, saying he and Michelle Martens had just been attacked. Rachel and her husband had moved their family into the Arroyo Villas Apartments just 5 days prior. She met Michelle the day before and invited them to Victoria's birthday party. 

Rachel called 911, and while on the phone with dispatch, Michelle showed up covered in blood with a large gash on her head. Rachel gave Michelle a washcloth to try and stop the bleeding. Michelle started wiping herself with the washcloth, and Rachel noticed that the blood had dried.

In the background, the 911 dispatcher could hear the commotion between Fabian and Michelle and asked Rachel what was happening. Michelle said her daughter, Victoria, was still in the apartment with the attacker and didn't know if she was okay. 

Police are dispatched, and they wait for help to arrive. When officers arrive, they make their way to apartment 808. There they see a woman who quickly shuts and locks the door's chain on them. Officers attempted to make entry and call for the woman to let them in. Next thing they see, the woman is going over the balcony, and officers apprehend her. The woman is Jessica Kelley.

In the body camera footage, you can hear smoke alarms going off in the background. An officer stays with Jessica while others enter the apartment, and he asks her why she locked them out? Jessica is frantic and panicky at this point. She said someone in the apartment started a fire, and she went over the balcony, but the officer never saw anyone besides Jessica. He asks her what she and Michelle were fighting about, and Jessica says Michelle's daughter.

When officers made entry into the apartment, smoke was pouring out. They began searching the apartment and found the origin of the smoke coming from the bathroom. Upon entering the bathroom, the officers were met with a haunting sight. 

Sgt Harold Sennett was one of the first officers on the scene. Sgt Sennett found Victoria in the bathtub, wrapped in a blanket on fire, and dismembered. Sgt Sennett found another blanket and put the fire out. Victoria's arms, heart, part of her liver and part of her sternum were removed from her body. Victoria's left leg was partially amputated post-mortem. 

Sgt Christopher Enyart was especially haunted by the scene. Sgt Enyart left the bathroom but returned to check for a pulse. Even though it was apparent that Victoria was dead, he still felt like he needed to do everything possible for her.

As authorities continued searching the apartment, it was clear someone had tried to clean up the crime scene before they arrived. Some of Victoria's remains and organs were found in a plastic bag in a laundry hamper in the living room near the kitchen. Victoria was partially clothed, and she had bruising around her neck.

Police found bloodstains on the carpet in Victoria's bedroom, and it seemed as if someone tried to remove the stains because the carpet was still wet. In the trashcan, Victoria's underwear were found dirtied with blood.

In the bodycam footage, officers come down the stairs and say to put Jessica in the back of the car. You can hear their tones and how upset they are from what they just witnessed. Jessica starts resisting and says she can't walk, her leg is broken, and that she just got thrown off the balcony. The officer, audibly upset, says you didn't get thrown. You jumped off. I saw you close the door! I have the youtube like for the segment from KRQE News 13 in the source material for you to be able to watch the footage as well.

In an interview with KOAT 7, Rachel said that Michelle and Fabian didn't seem to have any emotion. Rachel was worried when she saw that Victoria wasn't with them and the two were attacked. Rachel stated that Michelle said, "My baby, oh my baby, they threw her in the dumpster," but with little to no emotion. 

After the gruesome discovery, police take Fabian Gonzales, Michelle Martens, and Jessica Kelley into custody. Back at the station, investigators start the interviewing process beginning with Fabian.

Fabian was interrogated for nine hours. The entire time he insisted that he did not rape nor kill Victoria. He told them how he and Michelle met on the dating site Plenty of Fish the month before and was living in the apartment with Michelle and Victoria, and about a week ago, Jessica started staying with them.

During his interrogation, he said that on the night of August 23, he and Michelle returned to the apartment around 8 pm. He said they parked Michelle's gold Buick in front of the apartment and saw Jessica coming down the stairs with Victoria in her arms.

When Jessica saw them, she turned around and went back into the apartment without making contact with them. When Fabian and Michelle entered the apartment, Jessica told them Victoria was sleeping. He then claimed that the three of them sat down together and ate tacos for dinner and that Jessica was acting really weird, talking randomly about Jesus.

He told them that at around midnight, he and Michelle went to bed, but around two hours later, they were woken up around 1:40 am by Jessica. Fabian said Jessica held something behind her back as she told them she had their phones. 

She asked them if they believed in Jesus, and Michelle said, "Yes," at that point, Jessica said, "you're first b***h," pulling out an iron from behind her back, and she struck Fabian in the face with it. Fabian told investigators after this, he fled the apartment and ran to the neighbors, who called 911.

The investigators asked him if he knew what had happened to Victoria, and initially, he said he didn't know if she was okay, but later said that Jessica had killed her and cut off her leg. Fabian also denied having any involvement.

Now, this doesn't add up because we know the 911 call didn't come in until 4 am, so that puts about a two-hour gap in Fabian's account of events, and investigators feel that way too. If Jessica woke him at 1:40 am, why did it take almost two hours to get away and call for help? Also, if he hadn't participated in Victoria's murder, how did he know that Victoria had been murdered and then dismembered?

He never mentioned walking into the bathroom and seeing Victoria or that Jessica had even told him about what had happened. According to his own statement, Victoria was asleep when he got home that evening.

Investigators spoke with Michelle next. She started her story the same as Fabian, how they met and how Jessica moved in with them, but that was it for the similarities. Michelle gave an entirely different version of events that left the investigators in utter shock. Warning - the following details of this confession may be triggering and difficult to hear. Listener discretion is advised.

Michelle told the investigators that Fabian and Jessica gave Victoria methamphetamines to calm her down so they could sexually assault her. Michelle claimed that Jessica held her hand over Victoria's mouth, and the two women watched as Fabian raped Victoria. When the rape was over, Fabian choked Victoria to death.

At that point, Jessica stabbed Victoria in the torso and assisted Fabian by holding her arms as he dismembered her. Michelle said that Jessica placed Victoria's body in the bathtub and then put her arms in plastic bags.

During Michelle's interrogation, she changed her story several times and, at one point, told them it wasn't the first time she had watched someone sexually assault her daughter. Michelle said that she had previously trafficked Victoria online and watched as men sexually assaulted her daughter for her own sexual gratification.

When investigators were done with Michelle, they went to the University of New Mexico Hospital to speak with Jessica. Jessica was brought here after complaining about her leg. She had broken it jumping off the balcony while trying to flee from law enforcement. The investigators explained why they were there and read her her rights, and Jessica refused to speak with them and requested an attorney.

Regardless, they didn't need to speak with Jessica since they had enough information between Michelle's confession and Fabian's statements. Jessica Kelley, Michelle Martens, and Fabian Gonzales were arrested for the murder of 10-year-old Victoria Martens. 

The news of Victoria's murder and Michelle's confession sparked outrage, and community members came together to create a memorial for Victoria just days after her tragic murder.

Michelle's confession involved some of the most heinous and grotesque acts imaginable, especially against her own daughter! This confession led to a media circus, and the public wanted justice. Everyone, including the investigators, believed Michelle. Why wouldn't they?

Many state and local elected leaders expressed frustration and sadness over Victoria's senseless murder. Former Gov Susana Martinez spoke exclusively with KOAT 7 just days later, in August 2016, calling this one of the worst cases she has ever seen in her career.

On September 8, 2016, Michelle, Fabian, and Jessica were indicted on multiple charges, including but not limited to:

• Intentional abuse of a child
• Aggravated criminal sexual penetration
• Murder
• and tampering with evidence

Michelle Martens' bond was set at $1.5 million, and Fabian and Jessica's bonds were set at $1 million each.

As you can tell, this case is rough and insane; unfortunately, it only gets wilder. But before we go into what happens next, I want to give you guys some background information on this trio of suspects we have. We'll start with Fabian and Jessica.

Fabian Gonzales and Jessica Kelley are cousins! Jessica moved into the apartment after Fabian said she could for $50 a week after being released from prison. Jessica's criminal record stretches from October 2003 through this case, and from what I could find on Truth Finder, I counted over 30 criminal charges against her, not including Victoria's case! Some of the charges I found include, but are not limited to:

• Evading/resisting arrest
• Trafficking controlled substances
• Battery on a police officer felony
• Conspiracy 4th-degree felony
• and Criminal sexual penetration

That's right, Jessica had a charge for criminal sexual penetration previously, like she faces now with Victoria's case. While Jessica was in prison, she was convicted of taking part in the sexual assault of another inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

According to the police report, the victim hid under a bed, trying to escape from Jessica and another inmate. Jessica grabbed the victim out from under the bed and stood in the doorway, keeping guard as the other inmate sexually assaulted her. Ultimately, Jessica was convicted of conspiracy, not sexual assault, so she wasn't considered a sex offender. 

Fabian Gonzales has a record, just like his cousin Jessica. It's as long as a CVS receipt. Criminal records for Fabian go back to 2004 for domestic violence, aggravated battery, DUI, resisting arrest, possession of a controlled substance, child abuse, and felony child abuse prior to Victoria, just to name a few.

In August 2014, just two years before Victoria, Fabian was accused of assaulting his former girlfriend while she was driving with their child in the backseat. Fabian pled out in 2015, pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges, and was sentenced to two years of supervised probation.

Supervision should have included counseling, drug and alcohol treatment, random drug testing, and surprise home visits from probation officers. However, the supervised probation never happened.

According to the Department of Corrections Officials, they never received documentation informing them of the plea agreement or that Fabian was required to be under their supervision. A district court spokesperson disagreed with the DOC's statement saying the court did send an email and that the email was delivered. 

The DOC says they have since put a new system in place with someone staffed to review every case, every day, when a plea deal is made. Unfortunately, this was too little, too late for Victoria. Because had things been properly in place, he likely would not have been allowed to be around minors, and he definitely wouldn't have been able to move his felon cousin in with them.

As for Michelle, in March of 2016, just 5 months before Victoria's tragedy, Michelle called the Children, Youth, and Families Department (CYFD), also known in other states as Child Protective Services (CPS) or Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS), to report that her boyfriend at the time, David Hernandez, tried to kiss Victoria. 

David Hernandez is another person with a rap sheet a mile long. Hernandez had a history of sexually abusing children, including several of his own family members. In May 2013, Hernandez was arrested for kidnapping a 4-year-old girl. 

Hernandez tried to kidnap the child outside of the St. Anthony's Plaza Apartments in Albuquerque when a group of teenagers saw the kidnapping and ran to alert the girl's mother, Melissa Torrez. Hernandez pulled the girl inside his car from the driver's side of the vehicle and pushed her down onto the passenger side floorboard.

Melissa jumped in her car and chased Hernandez after her "mother's instincts" kicked in. When he realized he was being followed, he pushed the girl out of the car.

Strangers found her unharmed, wandering around a neighborhood a few blocks from her home. Melissa didn't realize her daughter was now safe, so she kept chasing Hernandez, finally crashing into his silver Buick, but he got away. The chase lasted about seven miles.

Melissa Torrez told KOAT-TV she didn't mean to hit the suspect's car and struck it accidentally when she lost control of her vehicle. Melissa said she didn't even have time to cry when she jumped to chase the suspect.

After the crash, she saw an empty baby car seat in the back seat of Hernandez's car. She told KOAT-TV, "I was like...what a sick man." 

The attempted kidnapping sparked a massive manhunt with more than two dozen officers who went door-to-door looking for the suspect. Authorities said a helicopter with heat-sensor cameras was also sent in for the search.

Police arrested David Hernandez the next afternoon in Rio Rancho after he saw his picture on television and called the police. After being interviewed, he was charged with kidnapping. As he was being taken to jail, Hernandez told reporters that he was innocent.

Police were also investigating a possible connection to the abduction and sexual assault of a 6-year-old from the same apartment complex the week before. The suspect in that case was described as a male in a silver or grey vehicle.

After Hernandez tried to kiss Victoria, Michelle kicked him out. It's unknown how much of his horrid past Michelle knew about. CYFD told Michelle to report the incident to the Albuquerque Police Department (APD), so she did. However, APD didn't investigate Michelle's claims against Hernandez, saying they couldn't take action over an attempted kiss. 

An APD spokesperson did an interview with the Albuquerque Journal and told the reporter that APD did, in fact, investigate Michelle's claim and that officers went to Michelle and sat down with her and Victoria about the attempted kiss. But that was a lie!

The CYFD was called a total of FIVE TIMES before Victoria was murdered just five months later. Though we don't know the nature of each call, a mother calling multiple times herself in that short of a time period should've given off major red flags and warranted a more serious investigation. 

Now, I know that social workers are loaded with cases. There were significantly way more cases than workers, and it's a shame. These workers are doing their best with limited resources, and the system is failing them and the victims, too; something has to give!

In 2022, New Mexico had reported to have 4,250 social workers. In Bernalillo (burn-a-leo) County, where this takes place, there were 13,085 reports made to CYFD between July 2020 - June 2021 alone, making up 33.27% of the state's reports. 39,324 total reports were made across the state at that time.

Please be advised we are going to be going over Victoria's autopsy report, which may be upsetting for some. On November 22, 2016, Victoria's autopsy was released. Dr. Rebecca Asch-Kendrick performed the autopsy, and Dr. Matthew Cain, a forensic pathologist, was the Medical Investigator for Victoria's case. Given Victoria's condition, she was identified by dental records. The autopsy revealed multiple contusions and abrasions to Victoria's head, neck, and torso. 

There were contusions on the inner lip, on her face. Hemorrhages involving the anterior and posterior aspects of the neck were found and corresponded with overlaying contusions. There was also hemorrhaging found around the spinal cord.

There were post-mortem sharp force injuries that lacked a vital response, including a large midline incision exposing internal organs, dismemberment of the bilateral upper extremities, and an attempt to remove the lower left extremity at the hip. Ribs 3-8 were removed, and ribs 2-8 were cut bilaterally on the anterior surface. The heart and a section of the liver were also removed.

The autopsy revealed a left upper extremity spiral fracture without soft tissue hemorrhaging. There was also evidence of perimortem (at or near the time of death) penetrating trauma to the rectum, including a posterior tear and abrasions anteriorly.

A microscopic exam revealed mild hypoxic-ischemic (a-ski-mick) changes of the brain and viral cytopathic (si-ta-path-ick) changes consistent with human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection, in the rectum that had been present for at least six months.

Cytologic screening of swabs taken from the mouth, neck, chest, abdomen, vagina, back, anus, buttocks, and thighs were all negative for spermatozoa (spur-mat-a-zo-uh).

The post-mortem toxicology report needed to be conducted on the liver since there wasn't enough blood left in Victoria's body. The toxicology of the liver tissue revealed an ethanol concentration of 210mg/100g. 

The carboxyhemoglobin level on the liver was less than 5% (normal level). Post-CT scans correlated with the autopsy findings. The scans were reviewed, and a compiled report was done by Dr. Gary Hatch, Forensic Radiologist.

Given the findings of the compression of the neck, abrasions, and contusions around the head and neck, hemorrhages in the neck muscles, and petechiae in the eyes and lips, it is all consistent with manual strangulation.

The sharp force injuries were ruled to be done post-mortem. No soot was found in the airways, and the level of carbon monoxide indicated no evidence of inhalation of products of combustion, indicating she was set on fire post-mortem. There were also no drugs found in Victoria's system. The autopsy report sent up some red flags with Michelle's confession.

On January 21, 2017, the CYFD released an extensive internal audit of the Victoria Martens case. The audit said CYFD was called five times about the family before Victoria's death. Former CYFD Secretary, Monique Jacobson, ordered the audit to see how those prior encounters were handled. 

In January 2017, Raul Torrez took office as the 2nd Judicial District Attorney and began to review the case. He expressed concern over how the investigation and follow-up procedures were handled. Torrez formed a new team of investigators to take over the case.

In March 2017, the new investigations began. In the months that followed, the investigators conducted hundreds of interviews. Two months later, in May 2017, the lawyers and prosecutors requested separate trials for Michelle, Fabian, and Jessica. The supreme court ruled if more than one person is charged with the same crime, they are entitled to separate trials.

On May 24, 2017, Fabian talked with his mom from the recorded jailhouse phones. He told his mom he had nothing to do with Victoria's murder. He claimed the DNA, the scene, and everything else would clear him.

On July 15, 2017, Jessica revealed details about the case while on the recorded jailhouse phones. She was talking with her sister and admitted how drugs were involved, how she was high, and how she had a role in Victoria's murder. 

A year after Victoria's death, her grandparents, John and Pat, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Albuquerque. 

In November 2017, investigators looked into phone records and found out things didn't match up with what the trio of suspects said they were doing the night of the murder. It was revealed that Michelle, Fabian, and Jessica were on their phone before and after Victoria's murder. Records showed they talked with each other and with other people.

Two weeks later, DNA evidence in Victoria's case was submitted to a Florida lab to be tested. The DNA was tested using a then-new technology called STRmix.

In December 2017, prosecutors requested Google to turn over records from Michelle, Fabian, and Jessica in regard to the case. District Court Judge Charles Brown signed a stipulated order instructing Google to release the records by December 30, 2017. According to court records, Google declined to give up the records saying the state did not give enough background into to case.

On Friday, January 12, 2018, prosecutors filed an application asking a judge to order Google to hand over the information and records on the trio. Prosecutors believed the accounts would show Google searches from the morning of the murder of maps, images, and terms that could be relevant to the case. Google eventually complied, and 6 months later, DA Torrez held a press conference on June 28, 2018, and dropped several bombshells.

For nearly two years, the DA's office worked on building a case against the trio, but Michelle's confession made things difficult when deciphering fact from fiction. DA Torrez announced that the rape and murder charges have been dropped against Michelle Martens and Fabian Gonzales in light of new evidence. DA Torrez revealed that cellphone data provided proof that neither of them were home at the time of Victoria's murder. 

Not only did Torrez reveal the phone data, but he dropped an even bigger bomb when he said that DNA from a FOURTH person, an unidentified male, was found on Victoria's body. This John Doe is the only person charged with murder.

Investigators determined that Victoria was raped and murdered between 7-8:45 pm on Tuesday, August 23, 2016. DA Torrez revealed the following timeline of events of what happened the night Victoria was murdered:

• 4:25pm - Victoria gets off the bus and goes home. Michelle and Fabian are not home at this time.
• 5:07pm - Michelle and Fabian return to the apartment
• 6:05pm - Victoria goes to the gas station with Fabian
• 6:15-20pm - Victoria and Fabian return to the apartment
• 6:30pm - Michelle and Fabian leave the apartment and go to Paradise Hills
• 7:02pm - Michelle and Fabian return to the apartment from Paradise Hills
• 7:05pm - Victoria is seen alive by neighbors
• 7:06pm - Michelle and Fabian leave the apartment again
• 7:38pm - Michelle and Fabian are near Coors & Rio Bravo
• 7:59pm - Michelle and Fabian are near Bridge and Five Points
• 8:47pm - Michelle and Fabian arrive back at the apartment
• 8:48pm - Witnesses say Victoria's body is seen being carried outside of the apartment

Michelle's attorney, Gary Mitchell, told KOAT-TV in 2018 that when she and Fabian left to buy drugs, they left Victoria alone with Jessica. During the news conference, DA Torrez announced the DNA from a 4th person found on Victoria's body. Many people have been left wondering who that 4th suspect is, and the answer is...we just don't know yet, and neither do investigators. 

The DNA testing could only rule out any known male in Victoria's life and any law enforcement officials who were investigating the case. 

Michelle Martens made a plea agreement with the DA's office. In the deal, Michelle pleads guilty to a lesser charge of reckless child abuse resulting in death. 

And that's where we are leaving this case for the time being. Next week we'll dive into what happens with Fabian and Jessica and how Michelle's plea deal affects the case. 

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