Police say they have arrested the man accused in the brutal stabbing death of a 68-year-old California man, an attack that was captured on newly released surveillance video.
Marcos Iriarte-Valdez, 36, was taken into custody at his home in Martinez on Friday night in connection with the killing of Todd Stewart, according to the Martinez Police Department.
Authorities said Iriarte-Valdez had already been on pre-trial release in separate residential burglary cases at the time.
He had also been arrested on Aug. 4 for allegedly violating a home-detention monitoring rule, police said, but was released again the following day.
After the alleged stabbing, Iriarte-Valdez was booked back into custody, where his bail has been set at $1.1 million while detectives continue investigating the homicide.
“I think people can sleep a little bit safer tonight knowing that this person is in custody,” Police Chief Andrew White said. “Unfortunately, too, there’s a family that no longer has a husband, a father.”
The surveillance footage released by authorities shows Iriarte-Valdez arriving in a Cadillac SUV while wearing dark jeans, a gray shirt and a protective vest.
He appears to sit in the vehicle for a while before getting out — and allegedly launching a vicious knife attack on Stewart.
The two can be seen tussling on a sidewalk between two parked cars before Stewart is knocked to the ground.
Iriarte-Valdez allegedly continues stabbing him even after he falls, as Stewart screams in agony.
Stewart, a husband and father of two, was pronounced dead at the scene despite medics’ desperate attempts to save him.
Cops have not said what sparked the attack or whether Iriarte-Valdez and Stewart knew each other.
Stewart had lived in the neighborhood for more than 30 years and had recently completed renovations on his home, neighbors told KTVU.
“He was the most mild-mannered person and the most helpful in the court,” said a friend. “It’s still unbelievable. I look across the street, and I expect him to come out and wave.”
