Disturbing details on Colorado security guard arrested with severed hand in pocket, now facing murder charges
By Erika FerrandoPublished: Jan. 18, 2024 at 11:58 AM CST| Updated: 7 hours ago
PUEBLO, Colo. (KKTV) - The arrest affidavit for Solomon Martinez, 26, a security guard, reveals gruesome details on the disturbing death of a woman found decapitated in a creek. Martinez was arrested for 1st Degree Murder and as of Thursday was being held in Pueblo. According to arrest papers, the victim’s body was found beheaded in Fountain Creek just south of Cesar Chavez Boulevard in Fountain Creek in Pueblo. When Martinez was arrested, detectives reported finding a human hand in his pocket. The coroner identified the victim as Renee Portillo.
The investigation started on January 10 around 4 p.m. when Pueblo police received a call about a possible decapitated female near the river. The person who called police showed them a video of the body with a missing head. Patrol officers searched along Fountain Creek on foot and with drones. They found the body in the Fountain Creek.
According to the arrest affidavit, witnesses told detectives Martinez asked them to help him dig a 10 feet deep hole. Witnesses told detectives they thought Martinez was kidding.
One witness said he first witnessed the body by the river. He told detectives Martinez drug the body down there with a blanket and refused to help him. The witness said he stayed behind to take a video to cover for himself and later covered the body with a blanket ‘because he didn’t know what else to do.’ He told detectives the body was beheaded, but he saw a head.
The other witness said early January 9, he and the other witness were at a car wash when Martinez walked towards them with dirty clothes and blood on his hands. A witness recalled seeing Martinez wash blood from his hands using one of the power washers.
One of the witnesses told detectives Martinez asked him, “Hey man, you want to absolve $1,000 off your debt, I need you to dig a 10-foot hole.” The witness suspected Martinez just killed someone.
Detectives reviewed the video which showed a female body without a head. There was a blanket covering from the waist down.
One of the witnesses told detectives Martinez was working security at the Pueblo Arts Center. That’s where officers found him and took him into custody. They found a human hand inside a plastic grocery-type bag in the chest pocket of his jacket. Officers observed what appeared to be blood smeared on Martinez’s car.
When detectives asked Martinez if they knew why he was being interviewed, he said, “I am guessing it has to do with the gift in my f---ing pocket.” He went on to say, “All I know is I was told to pick it up” by one of the witnesses. Martinez said he went for a ride with that witness when he claims he saw a big red stain all over the interior passenger side. He claims the witness told him it was tomato paste.
Martinez denied seeing a body on the river. He also told detectives he did not kill anyone or dismember a body.
When asked about what he was doing Monday night, Martinez said he picked up a prostitute but refused to pay her. He said he later dropped her off. When shown a picture of Portillo, who was identified by fingerprint, he recognized her as the woman he met Monday night. He denied killing her. He admitted it was likely her blood in his car “because that was the last woman I was with.” He told detectives he believes one of the witnesses then borrowed his car, found her, and killed her.
Detectives report believing Martinez was deceitful during his interview with difficulty remembering times and locations.
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According to the arrest affidavit obtained by the Pueblo Chieftain (X), Martinez allegedly stated the hand had been in his jacket pocket for two days. (ARCHIVE)
