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Victoria Martens Murder Updates: Horrific New Details Released In Case Of 10-Year-Old’s Slaying As Mom Allegedly Watched

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 13:31 PST, Jan 10, 2017

Last August, 10-year-old Victoria Martens lost her life in a murder that would go down as one of the most vile in the history of New Mexico. When law enforcement discovered the girl’s burned, dismembered remains in the apartment she shared with her mother, they knew that Victoria Martens had suffered a horrific end. Upon further investigation, they would learn that her final moments were truly nightmarish.

The case of the murder of Victoria Martens was brought to the attention of Albuquerque law enforcement on August 24. In the early hours of the morning, Victoria’s mother, 35-year-old Michelle Martens, and her boyfriend, 31-year-old Fabian Gonzales, knocked on a neighbor’s door claiming that they had been attacked. They claimed that their attacker was 31-year-old Jessica Kelley, a recently incarcerated house guest and also Gonzales’ cousin.

The pair had visible injuries to their faces, and the neighbor called 911. According to Victoria Martens’ mother and her boyfriend, they had been forced to leave Victoria behind to escape the apartment and were unsure of her condition or fate.

When police arrived at the scene, they found Kelley attempting to escape by jumping off of a balcony. She sustained minor injuries and was taken into custody. When they entered the apartment, they entered a grisly murder scene. They found Victoria Martens dead and dismembered, her body parts scattered, part of her corpse wrapped in a blanket and on fire. It was the day after her tenth birthday.

Further investigation would lead to the arrests of Michelle Martens, Fabian Gonzales, and Jessica Kelley. The trio was charged in connection with the rape and murder of Victoria Martens, and are currently being held at the Bernalillo County Jail, each with a $1 million bond.

Investigators say that in her final moments, Victoria Martens was drugged with methamphetamine, raped, stabbed, and strangled. They claim that Gonzales and Kelley sexually assaulted the 10-year-old. Then, they say that Jessica Kelley strangled her before Gonzales repeatedly stabbed her in the abdomen. After her murder, Victoria Martens was dismembered and lit on fire – all while her mother watched.

Later, it was revealed that the night of her death was far from the first time that Michelle Martens had watched her daughter be sexually assaulted. Allegedly, Victoria Martens’ mother had allowed Kelley and Gonzales to rape the 10-year-old repeatedly in the days and weeks leading up to her death. What’s more, Michelle Martens admitted during questioning that she’d picked up men on the Internet to bring to her home to sexually assault her child for months prior to the unthinkable murder, telling investigators that she “liked to watch.”

Now, horrific new details are being released in the murder case of Victoria Martens. As Daily Mail reports, it has come to light that Michelle Martens allegedly had consensual sexual intercourse with Fabian Gonzales just 20 minutes after watching him sexually assault and murder 10-year-old Victoria.

The extent of the sexual abuse endured by Victoria Martens prior to her murder has also been revealed. The autopsy report in the murder case indicates that the 10-year-old was suffering from human papillomavirus (HPV) at the time of her murder. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, and this discovery seemingly corroborates Michelle Martens’ reported confession that she had brought home pedophiles she met online to sexually assault Victoria in the months before her death.

It is unknown if investigators have located any of the other men who allegedly raped Victoria, or if they plan to pursue criminal charges in those instances.

One detail uncovered in the autopsy of Victoria Martens contradicts her mother’s account of the events leading up to the child’s violent death. According to Michelle Martens, she and her cohorts had dosed little Victoria with meth prior to sexually assaulting and murdering the child. Michelle had claimed that the monstrous trio had done so to “calm her down.”

The autopsy report in the Victoria Martens murder case indicates that there was no trace of methamphetamine in Victoria’s system postmortem. However, it was determined that the 10-year-old had been drinking alcohol before she died.

Following the murder of their granddaughter, Victoria Marten’s grandparents came to the defense of their daughter (Michelle Martens), claiming that she did what she allegedly did due to the influence of Gonzales and Kelley.

“Michelle didn’t change until these people inducted themselves into her life. What kind of power they had over her, I don’t know.”

A tentative trial date has already been set in the Victoria Martens case, and proceedings are expected to begin October 2. However, the trial for all three defendants is currently being handled jointly; prosecutors believe that it is likely that the defendant’s attorneys will file motions to have their clients’ trials in connection with Victoria Martens’ murderer severed.

[Featured Image by Russell Contreras/AP Images]

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