Police arrest man in desert slaying case

A man accused of killing a woman and hiding her body in the desert south of Boulder City was arrested Saturday, according to a Las Vegas police arrest report.

Harold Wilson Marin, 34, was charged with murder in the death of Edis Hernandez-Quintanilla, 43. The Clark County coroner's office determined she died from asphyxiation.

About 9 a.m. Saturday, a Boulder City police officer was leaving a police firing range a few miles south of town, near U.S. Highway 95, when he saw a sport utility vehicle stopped near a quarry, the arrest reported said. The vehicle then left the scene at a high rate of speed.

The officer pulled the vehicle over and could smell alcohol on the breath of the driver, who identified himself as Marin, according to he report.

The officer also noticed an eyeliner pencil, condoms and a woman's Nevada driver's license inside the vehicle. Marin's clothing was "disheveled" and marked with dried blood, according to the report.

The driver's license was issued to Hernandez-Quintanilla, and police found the woman's body near the quarry area where Marin had stopped, according to the report. The body appeared to have been "recently dumped there."

During an interview, Marin told police, "I don't know why you are doing all this, I have blood on my hands. I'm guilty."

Marin said he was at the Silver Saddle Saloon at 2501 E. Charleston Blvd., near Boulder Highway, when he was approached by a woman, identified by police as Hernandez-Quintanilla. She offered him sex for $100, Marin said.

Marin told police that Hernandez-Quintanilla then directed him to an unidentified man in the bar to negotiate the deal. Marin told the man "he only had $50, and they agreed to that," the report said.

Marin then took her to his SUV. He paid her and she began to remove her clothes, the report said.

After she asked for more money, a struggle broke out, Marin told police, and the unidentified man jumped into the back of the SUV and hit Marin several times.

Marin said he fought off the man, who fled, and then choked Hernandez-Quintanilla until she stopped moving, according to the report.

He then drove to Boulder City where he dumped the body, he told police. Marin had thought he was in Arizona.

After learning the death occurred in Las Vegas, Boulder City detectives contacted Las Vegas police detectives, who arrested Marin and transported him to Clark County Detention Center. He is being held without bail.

Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.