Los Angeles Man Suspected Of Dumping Head Under Hollywood Sign Busted In Texas

Los Angeles detectives on Sunday arrested a man they say cut off his boyfriend’s head and dumped it along a popular hiking trail near the famous Hollywood sign in Griffith Park. Gabriel Campos Martinez, 38, also carved up his lover’s body and left his hands and feet in the sprawling park as well, Los Angeles cops believe.

The Inquisitr reported on the discovery of the severed head when it happened, two years ago.

Hervey Medellin, an employee of Mexicana Airlines, was reported missing on January 9 of 2012. Eight days later, a mother and her daughter were walking their dogs along the well-known hiking trail near the Hollywood sign that overlooks the Beechwood Canyon area of Los Angeles and is part of Griffith Park, a 4,310 acre preserve that features numerous hiking trails and iconic landmarks such as the Hollywood sign and Griffith Park Observatory.

One of the women’s dogs, allowed to roam off its leash, started playing with an plastic bag lying along the trail. The dog picked up the bag in its mouth and the head of Hervey Medellin fell out.

After the dog-walkers reported their grisly discovery to Los Angeles park rangers, police brought in their own dogs, trained to sniff out dead bodies. The dogs discovered more of Medellin’s body parts scattered around the area.

Police say that the head and the other body parts were likely all dumped in one place, but animals moved them around. They also say that Martinez killed Medellin somewhere else and then transported his body parts into the famed Los Angeles park.

But the Los Angeles detectives would not offer speculation as to where Medellin was actually murdered — or why.

It was “inconsistent statements” by Martinez that led the cops to travel to Texas to put the cuffs on the Los Angeles man, who is currently being held without bail in San Antonio, awaiting extradition.

When they visited his apartment on January 16, 2012 — before the severed head was discovered — Martinez told police that Medellin had taken a sudden trip to Mexico without taking his cell phone or his car. But Martinez told police that it was “nothing out of the ordinary” for Medellin to do so.

When police interviewed the Los Angeles man three days later, he made what cops described as “inconsistent and suspicious statements.”

As to why it then took more than two years to take Martinez into custody, “This was a lengthy investigation and they reached the point where they believe they had evidence beyond reasonable doubt that he committed the murder,” said Los Angeles Police Commander Andrew Smith.