By Kristin Edwards
A man convicted of the murders of four Brazoria County residents was executed Wednesday at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Walls Unit.
Virgil Martinez, 41, was the fourth man executed in the state this month — he was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. following the denial of his last appeal.
During his last statement, Martinez described in detail what he said was the real series of events which took place on Oct. 1, 1996, the night of the murders.
He said the person truly responsible for the murders was one of the people killed, John Gomez.
“I know what you’ve been told and that’s all a lie — John Gomez killed your kids and sister,” Martinez said. “I know ya’ll love John Gomez but he was a violent man. I wish I could have shot him in the leg, then he would be here.”
During the statement, Martinez said he had gone to the home of Veronica Fuentes, another of the four people killed, to pick up a book.
“Veronica told me to come by and get my herb book,” he said. “John Gomez got on the phone and told me not to come over. She told me to come over, and me being a hot shot, I went over there and I had my gun.”
At 6:41 p.m., while Martinez was still in the process of describing his side of the events, the lethal injection began flowing and taking effect, and Martinez’s statement was cut short approximately three minutes later.
Martinez also addressed his personal witnesses, which included several immediate family members and a friend, to tell them he loved them.
According to information released by the Texas Attorney General’s office, Martinez was sentenced to death on April 15, 1998, for four 1996 murders.
The four victims, Veronica Fuentes, her 3-year-old daughter Cassandra, her 5-year-old son Joshua and John Gomez, a friend of the family, were killed on Oct. 1.
Martinez was 28 at the time of the offense.
A testimony by Sherry Graves, the landlord of the trailer park where Fuentes lived with her husband and her two children, indicated that Fuentes had become estranged from her husband and dated Martinez.
Following the relationship, several weeks before the murders took place, Fuentes told Graves she was afraid of Martinez.
On Oct. 1 at approximately 11 p.m., Graves heard banging noises and screaming coming from the direction of Fuentes’ trailer. She heard Fuentes say, “No, Virgil. No. Please, no. Just go. Just go.”
When Graves approached the front door and walked into the living room area, Fuentes told her to get help, and Graves left to call the police.
Graves then saw Veronica in the Fuentes’ front yard calling Martinez’s name and saying, “No, Virgil.”
Graves then saw Martinez shoot Fuentes, who fell to the ground.
After the shooting, Gomez ran towards Martinez, and Martinez also shot him.
As Martinez fled the scene, Graves said she saw him wearing a “holster-looking belt.”
Two neighbors of the Fuentes family, Robin Johnstone and Keith Burrow, saw people running across the street, heard gunshots and saw Gomez running toward a garage.
Burrow also saw Martinez shoot Fuentes.
Police arrived to find Fuentes and her two children dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Fuentes alone had wounds from 10 to 12 bullets.
Gomez was found alive with seven gunshot wounds and said an ex-boyfriend of Fuentes’ committed the murders — he later died from his wounds.
Following the shootings, Martinez fled to Del Rio.
On Oct. 2, he called paramedics claiming he was hearing voices and needed medical attention. Del Rio officers were dispatched to his location, and his car was eventually found and searched.
While the gun was never found, a gun belt appropriate for holstering a nine millimeter gun was found in Martinez’s car, and a gun box designed for a nine millimeter gun was found in his mother’s home.
According to forensic examination, all of the bullets found at the crime scene were fired from a nine millimeter gun.
During his trial, the state proved Martinez was carrying a metal welding rod in his pants while being escorted from the courthouse and that he had previously stalked a woman named Elvira Soria.
Martinez’s threatening behavior while in a hospital — specifically, his approach toward a hospital attendant with a plastic knife — was also mentioned.
Further, Martinez informed a security officer that voices were telling him to buy a gun and shoot people. He also asked an officer to sell him marijuana cigarettes.
Finally, Martinez also claimed he had been using PCP, cocaine and alcohol prior to being apprehended by authorities.
