By Chuck Hustmyre
April 13, 2007
REEDLEY, Calif. (Crime Library) — Juan Carlos Martinez smashed his way through a bedroom window and crawled into his girlfriend's parents' house late Tuesday night. With him was a 15-year-old boy, reportedly the nephew or cousin of Martinez's girlfriend, 17-year-old Ester Nieves.
Ester is eight months pregnant.
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Ester Nieves |
Martinez searched the house until he found Ester, who had dumped him a week earlier. He then dragged her out through the shattered window and shoved her into a gray four-door Honda waiting outside.
As Martinez struggled with Ester, he shouted threats at her parents, who watched helplessly as the young man made off with their pregnant daughter.
"He was cussing and telling (us) he would kill us," Maria Nieves, Ester's mother, told a television news crew.
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Juan Carlos Martinez |
Moments later, Martinez, the 15-year-old, and perhaps an Asian woman, whom police said may have been driving the early 1990s model Honda, disappeared with Ester Nieves, leaving behind little except shards of bloodstained glass.
"This was a forcible kidnap," Fresno County Sheriff's Department spokesman Deputy Chris Curtice said during a televised news interview. "The suspect and a 15-year-old forced their way into the residence, grabbed Ms. Nieves, and forced her out a broken window into the yard and took her to a waiting vehicle that was parked out front."
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Fresno Sheriff's Seal |
Thursday, the Sheriff's Department announced the capture of Martinez's 15-year-old accomplice, but did not release his name.
Sheriff's deputies arrested him Wednesday night in San Jose, 175 miles northwest of Reedley.
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