Man Suspected of Being in US Illegally Killed 4: Officials

Wilbur Ernesto Martinez-Guzman, 19, arrested in Nevada slayings
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 22, 2019 5:17 PM CST
Suspect in 4 Killings May Have Been in US Illegally: Authorities
This undated photo provided by the Carson City Sheriff's Office in Carson City, Nev., shows suspect Wilbur Martinez-Guzman. Authorities investigating four recent Nevada killings say murder charges are pending against Martinez-Guzman, suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.   (Carson City Sheriff's Office via AP)

A man suspected of being in the US illegally shot and killed four people in Nevada over the past two weeks, including an elderly Reno couple, authorities said, and the slayings added fuel to the immigration debate. Wilbur Ernesto Martinez-Guzman, 19, from El Salvador, has been jailed in Carson City since Saturday on possession of stolen property, burglary, and immigration charges. Authorities said they expect to file murder charges against him in the shooting deaths of the couple and two women in the nearby town of Gardnerville, the AP reports. Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said federal immigration authorities told his office that Martinez-Guzman was in the country illegally. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not have details on his entry into the US. The investigation is ongoing, the sheriff said, and it was too early to comment on a possible motive.

Investigators who had been tracking Martinez-Guzman considered him "an imminent threat" when they arrested him Saturday afternoon in the parking lot of a shopping mall. Detectives had watched Martinez-Guzman go to a car wash and trash bins, raising concern among detectives that he might try to dispose of evidence connected to the slayings. The suspect, who was due in court Thursday, had lived in the Carson City area for about a year. His only known infraction was a traffic ticket for speeding in February, the sheriff said. President Donald Trump seized on the killings as evidence of the need for his proposed US-Mexico border wall. "Four people in Nevada viciously robbed and killed by an illegal immigrant who should not have been in our Country," Trump said Monday in a tweet. "We need a powerful Wall!" (Read more about the victims, who were all found dead in their homes, here.)

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