Police: McAllen teen murdered two for drug money

McALLEN -- Two bodies blocked the door as firefighters tried to enter the burning apartment.

Guillermo David Guerra and Dahlia Flores lay lifeless on the floor while smoke poured from the windows and flames consumed the home just before 5 a.m. Saturday, firefighters told police.

But it was not fire that took the two lives before dawn Saturday.

Each of the victims had been stabbed in their head, chest, arms, neck and face.

Minutes before, Rogelio Martinez Jr. used Guerra's cell phone to call his brother-in-law for a ride, then threw the phone in a nearby Dumpster, police said.

"I had to kill them," Martinez told his brother-in-law when the relative showed up, according to police. "It was me or them ... I had to cut their throats. They wouldn't die."

On the ride away from the apartment at 1921 S. 8th St., the brother-in-law asked Martinez why he had so much money.

"I got it from the people I killed," Martinez responded, according to the statement the relative gave to police.

By Saturday afternoon, Martinez was under arrest, facing allegations that he murdered Guerra and Flores in order to get drug money, said McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez.

Detectives found Martinez hiding inside his father's McAllen home about 2 p.m. Saturday.

Investigators' quick investigation fell into place after several of Martinez's relatives told officers the 17-year-old came home early Saturday morning and shared the story of his bloody rampage, the probable cause affidavit against Martinez shows.

The mother told police that her son had arrived at her house, covered in blood, about 5:30 a.m. Martinez told his mother that he had "cut a guy's throat and killed him," the probable cause affidavit reads. He also told her that he had killed Flores, police said.

Terrified at what her son said he did, Martinez's mother told him to leave, she told police.

Before Martinez left his mother's home, he changed his clothes and dumped them in a plastic bag. Her son-in-law gave Martinez a ride to the McAllen home of his father, Rogelio Sr. While on the way, they stopped in an alley where Martinez burned the bag filled with his bloody clothing, the son-in-law told police.

With that information in tow, officers found Martinez Jr. hiding out in his father's home at the 2600 block of Upas Avenue, police said. Guerra's blue Nissan was found about two blocks away. It appeared that attempts had been made to set the vehicle on fire, the probable cause affidavit shows.

"Fire is a part of this crime from the word go," Rodriguez said.

Detectives said Martinez had cuts on his hands, scratches on his arms and neck and blood still smeared on his head when they found him. The wounds on Martinez matched the descriptions given by his family to police earlier that day.

Little expression showed on Martinez's face as he stood in McAllen Municipal Court on Monday. He asked Judge Kathleen Henley questions about the legal process before him and asked that he receive an appointed attorney.

Henley set Martinez's bond at $2 million for the capital murder charges. If the 17-year-old is convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Criminal charges could be brought against Martinez's brother-in-law, whose identity was withheld by police, for helping Martinez to destroy evidence, Rodriguez said. Detectives continue to investigate the case, he said.

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