NEVADA – A 19-year-old from El Salvador is facing 36 charges for weapons possession and pawning property stolen from four people killed within the last two weeks in northern Nevada.
Wilber Martinez-Guzman is not charged with murder at this time, but prosecutors in two counties say they plan to file those charges soon.
The judge read off the charges this morning which include a felony for being in the U.S. illegally, possession and sale of stolen property, and illegal possession of 12 firearms belonging to a couple killed in Reno.
A pawn shop owner told the Associated Press that Martinez-Guzman didn’t speak English well during the transaction of jewelry, and he used a passport for identification. However, the pawn shop owner said transactions of this type are not uncommon in his line of work.
Martinez-Guzman was arrested on Saturday as sheriff’s investigators developed suspect information based on pawn receipts routinely sent to law enforcement by pawn shop owners.
The victims, 56-year-old Connie Koontz, 74-year-old Sophia Renken, 81-year-old Gerald David, and 80-year-old Sharon David were all found shot dead in their homes between January 9th and 16th.