15 years ago on this
day, Martha Sanchez was murdered by Luis Salazar in her own home, her own stepson,
Erick Martinez witnessed the stabbing and tried to save her but he was stabbed
in the chest but survived. Luis Salazar was executed by lethal injection in
Texas on 11 March 2009. He also had stabbed another convenience store clerk,
Melissa Morales to death in San Antonio to death in 1992.
SUMMARY: Salazar entered
Martha Sanchez’s home through a window, grabbed a knife from the kitchen and
entered Sanchez’s bedroom, where he began stabbing the woman in the chest.
Sanchez’s son, 10-year-old Erick, woke up to his mother's scream and went into
his mother's bedroom, where he saw Salazar stabbing her. When Erick attempted
to grab the knife, Salazar stabbed the boy in the chest. Sanchez ran to get
help from a neighbor. Salazar later called 9-1-1 to turn himself into police,
and confessed to the crime. The medical examiner testified that Sanchez
suffered physical injuries that indicated an attempted sexual assault. In testimony
at his trial, Salazar did not deny stabbing Sanchez and her son, but that he
felt good during acts of violence and that he had dreamed of killing people.
CASE: In October of 1997, Martha Sanchez
lived at 250 Future Street in San Antonio with her husband Oscar Ochoa,
ten-year-old stepson Erick, two-year old daughter Brianna, and four-month old
son Timothy. For approximately three years, Luis Salazar lived next door to
Martha Sanchez and her family and was well-acquainted with them. In fact, Ochoa
had helped Salazar obtain employment at the Super K-Mart where Ochoa himself
worked. The family’s encounters with Salazar, however, were not always
positive. Ochoa testified that earlier in 1997 Salazar approached Martha in her
home and asked if he could borrow some sugar, but “not that kind of sugar.”
Ochoa confronted Salazar and ordered him to stay away from the family’s home.
According to Ochoa’s testimony, Martha thereafter became afraid of Salazar.
Martha’s 19-year-old niece Nicole also testified that she had served as a
babysitter at the family’s home and spent the night there on numerous
occasions. On several of those occasions, she explained, Salazar would call
late in the evening asking for Martha’s company. According to Nicole, however,
Martha refused to speak with Salazar. Salazar moved out of his house around
September of 1997 and took up residence at 122 Ashland in San Antonio. Sanchez
last spoke to Ochoa in the early morning hours of October 11, 1997. As was his
custom when working the “graveyard” shift, Ochoa called home from work at about
12:30 a.m. Evidence indicated that, at some time after that phone call, Salazar
entered Martha’s home through the left front window, using an empty milk crate
to climb into the home. A trail of muddy footprints led from the window inside
the house. Salazar retrieved a knife from the kitchen and entered Martha’s
bedroom. As Salazar began stabbing Martha, a struggle ensued, leaving the
bedroom in disarray. Stepson Erick testified that he awoke to Martha’s scream:
“Luis, why are you doing this? Leave me alone!” Erick then entered the bedroom
where he saw his stepmother struggle while Salazar was stabbing her. As Erick
attempted to grab the knife, Salazar stabbed him in the chest. Martha
instructed Erick to leave and call for help, and he did so, ultimately finding
his way to the home of a woman named Sylvia, who lived nearby. Sylvia testified
that she answered her door to find Erick bleeding from his chest and begging
frantically for help. He told her that someone had broken into the home and
stabbed both him and his stepmother. Erick identified Salazar as the attacker.
Sylvia called 911 and sent her future son-in-law Adrian to the Sanchez home to
investigate. Adrian removed the two youngest children, Brianna and Timothy,
safely from the home. He testified that he then entered the home again and,
after checking Martha’s pulse, realized that she was dead. An EMS unit soon
arrived, confirmed Martha’s death and transported Erick to University Hospital.
Salazar had fled the scene. Later, however, Salazar telephoned 911 to turn
himself into police, who arrested him without incident and informed him of his
Miranda rights. Meanwhile, police approached Ochoa at work and informed him of
his wife’s death. Physical evidence showed that Martha had suffered stab wounds
to the heart, lungs, and aorta, causing her death. Moreover, the medical
examiner testified that Martha’s death was not immediate; it took several
minutes for her to die. In addition, Martha suffered contusions and skin
abrasions on the outer thigh, as well as contusions to the inner thigh.
According to the medical examiner, although Martha suffered no genital
injuries, no sperm was present, and her clothes had not been removed, this
pattern of bruises and scratches indicated an attempted sexual assault.
Evidence at the scene also indicated that the telephone lines outside the home
had been cut and that the interior of the home was in shambles, although no
fingerprints were found on the front windows. Investigators found a cordless
phone under Martha’s left arm and the bloody kitchen knife on a coffee table
near Martha’s bedroom. Salazar testified at trial. Although he did not deny
that his actions caused Martha’s death, he offered his own version of the
incident. He claimed that, on the evening of October 11, he and his brother
went to a friend’s home in San Antonio, where they smoked marijuana and snorted
cocaine, and they drank beer and liquor. He left the home between 3:00 a.m. and
4:00 a.m., went to a local taco bar but was unable to find a ride home. He thus
decided to go to his old home on Future Street, which his mother-in-law still
owned and at which he still kept some personal belongings. Salazar testified
that although he intended to go to the home at 254 Future, he mistakenly
approached Sanchez’s home at 250 Future. And because he no longer had his key
to the home at 254 Future, he decided to enter through the window. Once inside,
he claimed (believing that he was in his own home) that he heard a frightening
noise. Salazar then obtained a knife from the kitchen. He testified that he
walked out of the kitchen, bumped into a person he could not see, became
frightened, and began stabbing the unknown person. Salazar further stated that,
during his stabbing frenzy, he felt a pain in his arm, realized that someone
was behind him, and he began stabbing that person, as well. He then saw the
person behind him and heard the victim say “Run!” or “run Erick!” According to
Salazar, he subsequently realized that he was in the wrong home and simply left
the house. Salazar testified that his state of mind during the incident was
similar to a black-out. He stated that he did not remember Martha screaming
“Luis, why are you doing this to me?” he did not remember Brianna crying and he
did not remember Erick telling him to leave Martha alone. He also denied
cutting the telephone lines at 250 Future and denied trying to rape Martha,
although he offered no explanation for the bruises and abrasions on her legs.
At trial, Salazar admitted stabbing Martha Sanchez to death after entering her
house without consent. He further testified that he found her attractive, he
desired to have intercourse with her, and he had recently propositioned her.
Salazar also admitted that he told his wife before the murder that violence
made him feel good and that he had dreams about killing people. The prosecution
also presented evidence that Martha Sanchez was afraid of Salazar and that
Salazar had committed a prior sexual assault on an acquaintance, although he
pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. There was evidence that the telephone lines
had been cut before Salazar went into the house. Salazar’s muddy footprints led
directly from the point of entry to the kitchen where he obtained two knives,
which were the murder weapons. He then went to Martha Sanchez’s bedroom. The
only signs of struggle were in Martha Sanchez’s bedroom and her blood was found
only in her bedroom. Martha Sanchez’s body was found on the floor of her
bedroom on top of some of her bedding. There was no reason for Salazar to be in
Martha Sanchez’s house, other than his claim that he entered by mistake. The
medical examiner testified that the bruise pattern on Martha Sanchez’s legs was
consistent with a person wrapping his hands around her knees and legs in a
forcible attempt to separate her legs. The medical examiner concluded, based on
her experience with known rape victims, that the bruise pattern indicated an
attempted sexual assault. She gave specific testimony regarding the age, size and
placement of the bruises and abrasions on Martha Sanchez’s body and explained
why those factors supported her conclusion. She also testified that the bruise
pattern on Martha Sanchez’s legs, the mud on Martha Sanchez’s inner thigh, and
the fingernail abrasions on her thighs was inconsistent with Salazar’s version
of events. The medical examiner gave specific, cogent reasons for her
conclusion that the bruise pattern indicated an attempted sexual assault. She
pointed to ten different contusions and a “scratch abrasion” which formed this
pattern. She placed particular importance on four contusions on the inside of
her knee and thigh. The defense called no witnesses other than Salazar and
rested after Salazar’s testimony. Salazar was charged with a single count of
capital murder committed during the course of committing or attempting to
commit aggravated sexual assault and burglary. At trial, Salazar’s intent to
commit a sexual assault on the night of the murder was an important issue.
Among other evidence, the prosecution elicited testimony from the medical
examiner that the pattern of contusions on the victim’s body indicated an
attempted sexual assault contemporaneous with her death. The medical examiner’s
opinion about the pattern of contusions on Martha Sanchez’s body was not
expressed in the autopsy report, and defense counsel attempted unsuccessfully
to keep this testimony from the jury. Defense counsel also attempted to
discredit the medical examiner’s opinion on cross-examination, but he did not
consult with an independent pathologist or call any rebuttal witnesses to
refute the medical examiner’s testimony. Although a number of lesser-included
offenses were included in the jury charge, Salazar was convicted of capital
murder as charged in the indictment and sentenced to death. He appealed
directly to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which affirmed the conviction
and death sentence in an unpublished opinion. UPDATE: A man who crawled through
the window of a San Antonio home and fatally stabbed a mother of 3 has been
executed tonight in Huntsville. Luis Salazar thanked his friends and relatives
for their friendship and fellowship and expressed love to his mother, brothers,
sister and his children. Salazar never acknowledged the family of 1997 Martha Sanchez
or her slaying in an attack police say happened after he'd been on a drugs and
drinking binge. Sanchez's oldest child, Erick, -- who was 10 at the time of the
killing and tried to stop the slaying -- was among the witnesses. In his final
statement, Salazar referred to his own family, saying: "I'm going to miss
them and take them with me in my heart. Thanks to everyone praying for
me." He said: "My heart is going ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump."
Salazar then laughed. He asked for forgiveness and recited the Lord's Prayer.
Salazar was asking for forgiveness for what he called the "sins that I can
remember" when the drugs began taking effect. Salazar testified at his
trial that after a night of marijuana, cocaine and drinking he thought he was
in his own house just before dawn Oct. 11, 1997, and that Martha Sanchez, 28,
and her three children were intruders. Evidence, however, showed the telephone
wires at the home next door to where Salazar previously lived had been cut and
Sanchez's injuries indicated Salazar had tried to rape her before she was
fatally stabbed. He denied cutting the phone lines or the attempted rape. The
woman's 2-year-old daughter was asleep in the same bed and a 6-month-old son
was in a crib nearby. Sanchez's screams woke her older son, 10-year-old Erick,
who was asleep in an adjacent room and he went into his mother's room to see
what was going on. Then he tried to defend his mother from the knife-wielding
intruder he knew as the man who used to live next door and was stabbed in the
chest as his mother yelled at him to run outside and get help. Leaving a trail
of blood, the boy pounded on the doors of homes until he found a neighbor to
respond. Salazar had attacked his mother and him, he told the neighbor. Almost
a year later, the boy showed a Bexar County jury the scars from his wound as he
testified at Salazar's capital murder trial. A neighbor testified how she
changed the clothes of the 2-year-old who had her mother's blood all over her.
Almost four years before the attack, Salazar had pleaded guilty and received
two years probation for misdemeanor assault for a sexual attack on an
18-year-old mentally disabled high school student. And some four years before
that, he was given probation for four counts of aggravated robbery for holding up
convenience stores. Richard Langlois, one of Salazar's trial lawyers, said the
previous convictions were difficult to overcome in the minds of jurors who had
been asked to spare Salazar's life because he's endured an abusive childhood.
"It was a situation where he had a prior sexual assault," Langlois
said. "I think our defense was that he got in the wrong house, that he
lived a couple doors away." But he said when evidence showed the phone
wires to Sanchez's home had been cut, "That kind of blew that."
"He had a violent history," said Bert Richardson, the former Bexar
County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Salazar. Testimony also
showed that when he'd lived nearby, he made sexual passes at Sanchez, whose
husband had helped Salazar get a job at a Kmart. Sanchez's husband was at work
the night of the slaying. A neighbor who answered Erick's cries for help saw a
man riding a bicycle fleeing from the house. Salazar called police later that
day and said he wanted to surrender. "I think the whole town was looking
for him at that point," Richardson said. "The guy was on probation
for three or four aggravated robberies and had raped a mentally retarded girl.
But even if you throw that aside, (this case) was gut-wrenching because of the
kids. They were all there." Erick's wounds were superficial and he
recovered. The emotional and psychological scars were more lasting, Richardson
said. "It kind of tore his life apart," Richardson said. "He's
had a few bumps in the road." UPDATE: A 17-year-old cold case murder was
solved with the confession of a killer just moments from the death chamber.
Luis Cervantes Salazar was executed in March 2009 for the stabbing murder of a
woman in October 1992. But shortly before his death, he was encouraged by his
spiritual counselor to speak with Texas Rangers about other crimes he
committed. He confessed to the 1992 stabbing of a young female clerk at the
Stop and Go at Woodlawn and 36th Street in San Antonio, just an hour and a half
before he was executed. San Antonio police say his confession solved the murder
of Melissa Morales. Salazar had not previously been considered a
suspect. After Salazar's death, Texas Rangers contacted SAPD cold case
detectives with the information. After learning of the details of the Capital Murder,
it was clear that the victim was Melissa Morales, a store clerk who had been
stabbed thirteen times while working at the Stop n Go at 2409 NW 36th Street on
April 19, 1992, Easter Sunday. Once the audio taped interview was received and
transcribed, SAPD Detectives went about verifying Salazar's confession. Salazar
gave details about the Capital Murder that could have only been known by the
murderer. These details confirmed that Salazar had murdered Melissa Morales
during a robbery. On Thursday April 2nd, 2009 SAPD detectives notified Melissa
Morales' parents, Stephen and Alma DeLeon, and her grandparents, Jesse and
Carolina Robledo of Salazar's confession. After Melissa Morales' murder, her
parents, grandparents, and Carrie Willborn lobbied Legislature with State
Representative Leticia Van de Putte to require all convenience stores to
install security cameras. Because of their efforts the bill was passed. http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/Pending/09/mar09.htm
 |
| Melissa Morales |
QUOTE 1: "My biggest fear was this wasn't going to
happen,"
Sanchez's mother, Gloria Rodriguez, said after watching Salazar die. "I was waiting for this day."
QUOTE 2: Erick Martinez, who took his
father's last name, said the execution of his mother's killer allowed him to
"put away something from the past."
"It wasn't difficult," he said. "I was kind of looking forward to it."
AUTHOR: Family
members of Martha Sanchez who was stabbed to death on 11 October 1997 by Luis
Salazar. Luis
Salazar was executed by lethal injection in Texas on 11 March 2009.
COMMENTS: Luis Salazar was
guilty beyond any doubt at all and he also a repeat offender who had committed
another murder 5 years before. I walked in Erick Martinez’s shoes when
he had to witness his stepmother getting stabbed and sexually assaulted, he
survived a stabbed wound and was able to testify against his stepmother’s
killer. At the same time, I also felt for Melissa Morales’s family, as they
finally found her killer. I do hope they find comfort and closure.
Bud Welch, a man whose daughter was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing on
19 April 1995. He once in a debate at Bridgewater College with Jeff Jacoby, said
that the death penalty is actually difficult for the family members who
suffered from a murder's crime.
"Killing someone is the reverse of that. It
actually makes the murder victim's family member feel re-victimized all over
again when the perpetrator is executed," said Welch.
If you hear what Erick Martinez said (see Quote 2) after watching Luis
Salazar die, you can easily debunk what Bud Welch said. Erick did not feel
re-victimized, he was satisfied that justice was served. He was able to put the
past behind and know that Luis Salazar will never hurt anybody again.
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