Background: The canal in Miami, Forida, where the body of Nerida Martel was discovered (WPLG). Inset top: Saul Garcia Gonzalez (Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation). Inset bottom: Gonzalez being arrested (WPLG).
In a shocking turn of events, a Florida man who initially suggested that his missing girlfriend may have been taken by immigration authorities now faces accusations of her murder. Saul Garcia Gonzalez, aged 40, is charged with second-degree murder following the discovery of 37-year-old Nerida Martel’s body. She was found on October 11 in a canal, just a few blocks from their shared residence, with a gunshot wound to the head.
Miami-Dade police revealed that the investigation took a pivotal turn after Gonzalez himself reported Martel missing several days before her body was discovered. “Through investigative means, MDSO Homicide Bureau detectives were able to determine that the victim had been murdered by [Gonzalez],” the police stated on Thursday.
Gonzalez was apprehended at a local shopping center on Wednesday, an arrest captured on security cameras and reported by NBC affiliate WTVJ. The footage shows law enforcement, including one officer with a drawn weapon, moving in to detain him.
Initially, Gonzalez had claimed that Martel went missing on October 6 after he took their 2-year-old daughter to daycare. He suggested that Martel was supposed to get a ride to work, but this account seemed to conflict with statements he made to a family friend.
In a criminal filing referenced by WPLG, an independent local news station, it was noted that Gonzalez speculated to a family friend that Martel might have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Furthermore, he allegedly relayed inconsistent versions of when he last saw Martel to various acquaintances.
“[Gonzalez] told the family friend that he believed the victim was possible in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel,” a criminal filing says, according to WPLG. He also allegedly told friends conflicting stories about when he had last seen Martel.
Investigators said that some of Martel’s own actions prior to her death indicated that she was trying to get out of the relationship, and that she had told family members that Gonzalez was “verbally abusive” toward her.
“The victim had reached out to a friend seeking a place to stay only for her and her daughter, which indicates that the victim was attempting to leave the defendant and end their relationship,” the filing says.
Cellphone records also tipped investigators off to Gonzalez’s alleged wrongdoing. According to the arrest statement, Martel’s cellphone was at the couple’s home when Gonzalez dropped their daughter off at day care — but it was soon moved to the location where the victim’s body was eventually discovered.
“The defendant’s device then traveled back to the canal where the victim’s body was discovered,” the arrest report said. “The defendant’s device stayed near the canal traveling around it, until he drove back to his residence. Moments later, both of the devices traveled together to the east side of the canal … the victim’s device was then turned off.”
Gonzalez’s device then stayed stationary for a few hours before ultimately moving to another residence, the statement said, according to WPLG.
Investigators noted that “the evidence collected in this case refutes all of the statements that the defendant provided” to witnesses and law enforcement.
“The evidence also showed that the defendant was never at a bus stop dropping off the victim and that he did not go straight to work after he dropped off their daughter,” the arrest report adds.
A witness to Gonzalez’s arrest told WTVJ that the man was known to visit the area with his daughter, whose day care is nearby.
“He always came alone with the little girl,” the witness told the station. “He was normal, easy to get along with. He was never disrespectful. He was pleasant. He would come by and would always say good morning. He was always very attentive.”
She said that not too long after, the Department of Children and Families came to pick up the daughter at a day care nearby.
“The little girl is what worries me the most. Her mother has passed away, and now her father is now in jail,” the employee said.
Gonzalez was denied bond and is pending his next court date.
Online records show that Gonzalez is in custody at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
