GREELEY, Colo. — A Greeley man was sentenced to life in prison for killing his roommate in June of 2021 following an argument.
On Friday, a jury in Weld County convicted Anthony Martinez, 40, of first-degree murder for killing his roommate Shannon Ziel on June 17, 2021.
According to the Weld County District Attorney’s Office, officers with the Greeley Police Department responded to a home after the victim’s mother reported finding her son deceased on the floor of his bathroom.
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The victim, identified as Ziel, shared the home with his roommate, Martinez.
A neighbor reported hearing screaming coming from the apartment around 8 p.m. on June 17, according to the district attorney’s office.
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Police interviewed Martinez, who initially denied having any involvement. However, he later confessed to the murder, describing an argument that had preceded the crime. Martinez said he had followed Ziel to a bathroom with a kitchen knife and then stabbed him at least four times in the torso. He told police he used a belt to strangle Ziel, according to the district attorney’s office.
Martinez then washed himself off and hid the knife in the kitchen and his clothes in his bedroom, according to the district attorney’s office. Those items were later recovered as evidence.
After Martinez was found guilty of first-degree murder, he was sentenced to life in the Colorado Department of Corrections.
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