Technology ties violent deportee to two deaths

Gustavo Ramos-Martinez is an illegal immigrant with a history of violent crime.

For years, he sneaked in and out of the country, visiting family in Las Vegas even though he was caught and deported to Mexico multiple times.

During much of that time, Las Vegas police were trying to find the killer of Wallace Siegel, 75, and Helen Sabraw, 86, who were brutally slain in May 1998 in their homes at the AmeriPark retirement community.

Although Ramos-Martinez eluded federal immigration authorities, he wasn't able to escape modern forensic technology.

On Wednesday, Las Vegas police arrested Ramos-Martinez, 31, in connection with the slayings. New tests revealed that his DNA was at both murder scenes.

Sgt. Jon Scott, supervisor for the Metropolitan Police Department's Cold Case Detail, said Thursday detectives had little to work with 12 years ago. There were no witnesses to what appeared to be random robbery and murder.

The slayings shocked the assisted living community near Flamingo Road and Maryland Parkway, he said.

"That's one place you would think that someone that frail could be safe," Scott said.

According to an arrest report, the killer entered the homes of both victims between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. on the night of May 15-16, 1998.

The killer first came in through Siegel's window, bludgeoning him with a 25-pound weight after robbing him. A bloody palm print was found on a newspaper in the apartment. Siegel, who recently had undergone hip replacement surgery, was found dead that morning by his son, police said. A neighbor at the time, who asked to remain anonymous, called Siegel's death senseless.

"Wally was a kind, gentle soul who wouldn't hurt anybody," the neighbor told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "He survived three heart bypasses."

That was the morning of May 16. A full day later, on May 17, Sabraw's neighbor and her son found her body in her nearby home. She had been beaten savagely and stabbed multiple times. Several items in her home were covered in blood, including a man's discarded T-shirt, a chair and several knives. Sabraw was found with her nightgown pulled over her chest, and had been sexually assaulted, police said.

Detectives had quickly linked the two murders but had no leads and no suspects. The case grew cold.

But in June, Las Vegas police cold case detectives submitted DNA found at the crime scenes to the FBI's national DNA database. On Sept. 10, the database produced a match and identified Ramos-Martinez. It was unclear Thursday why his DNA profile was already in the FBI records.

It was also unclear if Ramos-Martinez was in the United States legally at the time of the murders, but in 1998 he was already a violent criminal.

Ramos-Martinez pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon after a separate incident in Las Vegas in July of that year. He pleaded guilty and was ordered to serve five years probation. In 2006, he violated probation, and was ordered to serve one to four years in prison.

But Scott said Ramos-Martinez often returned to Las Vegas, and was deported on more than one occasion. After his DNA was linked to the AmeriPark murders, cold case detectives tracked him to his Las Vegas home. They followed him for several days and, on Sept. 30, stopped him for a minor traffic violation. After making a positive ID, they turned him over to federal immigration officials. Nearly two weeks later, immigration gave him back to stand trial. He is now in the Clark County Detention Center, facing two counts of murder with a deadly weapon, two counts of burglary, robbery with a deadly weapon and sexual assault with a deadly weapon.

During an interview with homicide detectives on Wednesday, Ramos-Martinez denied ever entering the AmeriPark complex, which is now known as Oak Hill Senior Living. He declined to answer additional questions and asked to speak with a lawyer, police said.

The investigation into the slayings was aided by a $500,000 grant received last year from the Department of Justice. Since January, detectives have been making arrests in cold sexual assault and murder cases.

Scott said credit for the latest arrest goes to detectives and forensic lab technicians.

"It's about 50-50," Scott said. "Good police work, tied with the DNA."

John Sabraw, 70, said Thursday he was glad an arrest was made in his mother's death, but declined to comment. He said he did not know the man in custody and had been given limited details by police.

"We'll wait for further action from the wheels of justice and see what transpires," said Sabraw, a Mesquite resident. "Perhaps then we'll have further comments."

Review-Journal reporter Brian Haynes contributed to this report. Contact Antonio Planas at aplanas@review journal.com or 383-4638, and Mike Blasky at mblasky @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.