GERING, Neb.—A Bayard man who pleaded guilty to killing the mother of their six children and her boyfriend has received two life sentences for the slayings.
During the sentencing hearing Friday, Arnold “Jesus” Marquez tried to justify the killings by saying that Jorge Gonzalez had abused Marquez’s 14-year-old daughter.
Gonzalez, 28, of Gering, had been dating Isabel Marquez, 39.
But Scotts Bluff County Attorney Derek Weimer said there was no evidence of abuse and the girl also denied there was any abuse.
Arnold Marquez stormed into his former home in January and shot the couple. Five of the Marquezes’ six children were home at the time, along with other witnesses.
“This was just a calculated murder,” Weimer said.
According to prosecutors, Marquez said in statements to police and letters to his children and former employer that he killed the couple because Isabel hadn’t followed his rules. Among them: Isabel Marquez could continue to live in their Minatare home and maintain custody of their children as long as she didn’t have other men in the house.
Otherwise, he said in threats repeated two weeks before the slayings, he would kill her and any man she was with.
The Marquezes had been estranged for two to three years, authorities said.
Weimer said Monday that Marquez referred to Isabel as his wife, although Weimer said his office never found evidence of a formal ceremony or a wedding certificate. He said the Marquezes’ oldest child was 20 at the time of the slayings.
When Marquez went to pick up two of his sons for a weekend visit, authorities said, he noticed a strange car in the driveway—a car he thought was her boyfriend’s
Marquez returned a few hours later with two guns.
He barged into the house, chase Gonzalez down to the laundry room and shot him several times. Then he went to the living room and shot Isabel. He returned to the laundry room and shot Gonzalez again—13 times in all, police said.
Two of the Marquezes’ daughters tried to intervene and one was hit on the head. They fled the home separately and went to neighbors’ homes to call police. Another daughter climbed onto the roof from her bedroom and used her cell phone to call police.
After police arrived, Marquez parked a pickup near the house. Neighbors shouted that he was the shooter, and police arrested him.
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Information from: Star-Herald,
