Santa Fe murder suspects arrested

SANTA FE (KRQE) - One of the accused killers in the dead man's brother.

On Tuesday, Felix Martinez was charged with fatally shooting his older brother, David Martinez.

Santa Fe Police have also charged Sam Leyba with the murder.

People who know Felix Martinez say he was deeply upset that his brother, David, had been murdered. They had no idea police were looking at Felix for the killing.

"Felix murdered his own brother? Are you serious?" said Jerome Urban, a neighbor of Felix Martinez. It took a moment to register for the neighbors that Felix was behind bars.

David Martinez was fatally shot on March 11.

Police say the brothers started fighting at Leyba's house that night. Police say Felix admitted to police he grabbed David's revolver and shot him in the chest, killing him.

They also say Felix Martinez claims he was scared that his brother was going to shoot him, so he shot first in self-defense.

The body and the murder weapon were found dumped in Torreon Park the next morning.

Witnesses told police they saw Felix and Leyba wheel something on a dolly away from Leyba's house. Police say that object was David's body.
 
Leyba, whom police describe as a serial burglar, was arrested March 16 and charged with possession of stolen goods. Police also considered Lebya a "person of interest" in David's death.

On Tuesday they said they had enough evidence to charge both Leyba and Felix Martinez with open counts of murder.

The murder happened in same neighborhood where business owner Ethan Boyer was murdered in his home last month. Investigators believe he walked in on a burglary and said they will be looking into DNA samples at both murder scenes to see if Martinez or Leyba are involved in Boyer's murder.