In a chilling case that has finally reached a verdict, an Arizona man has been convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend in California after his friends mocked him for continuously trying to contact her. Prosecutors revealed that the man, whose advances were being ignored, was driven to commit the crime after his peers derided him for appearing desperate.

Noel Ledesma, 44, was found guilty of first-degree murder this week for the 2010 killing of Yvette Martinez, as stated in a press release from the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office. Martinez’s remains were discovered in the trunk of her burning car after Ledesma strangled her. His attempt to dispose of the vehicle by pushing it into a canyon failed when it got lodged on a berm, according to the DA’s report.

The case remained unsolved for over 15 years until investigators were able to tie Ledesma, who had since relocated to Arizona, to the crime. This breakthrough came in February 2025 when cellphone data analysis exposed his false alibi. Ledesma had previously claimed he was at a family gathering on the night Martinez disappeared after an evening out with friends.

The district attorney’s office explained that the analysis placed Ledesma in proximity to Martinez’s Greenfield residence for several hours before she returned home. Furthermore, the data indicated that Ledesma’s phone was in the same Salinas area as Martinez’s when her phone was momentarily activated to send misleading messages to her friends. Crucially, the evidence showed that Ledesma was not at the family event when Martinez’s vehicle was discovered engulfed in flames.

Prior to her tragic death, Martinez had spent the day socializing with friends and her then-current boyfriend. Her day included drinking in Salinas, visiting a corn maze, meeting a friend at a local restaurant, and then heading home.

Prosecutors noted that throughout the night, Ledesma persistently called and texted Martinez, who largely disregarded his attempts to reach her. Despite Ledesma’s months-long efforts to rekindle their relationship, Martinez consistently refused his advances, the DA’s office reported.

“As the night progressed, Ledesma became angrier that Martinez was not responding to him,” the office says. “He told her that his friends were ridiculing him and laughing at him.”

Ledesma went to Martinez’s home in Greenfield a little after midnight and waited there for hours until she arrived at the residence around 3:11 a.m., according to prosecutors. “Martinez arrived back at her home but did not make it inside,” the DA’s office says. “She was never seen alive again.”

Martinez’s car and body were found the next evening “burning on the side of Highway 198, a few miles from Priest Valley Road,” according to prosecutors. An autopsy determined that she had died of strangulation.

“Her body was so badly burned that she had to be identified by her dental records,” the DA’s office says. “Monterey County Sheriff’s Office detectives suspected Ledesma was the killer due to suspicious behavior he exhibited in the days following her death, his history of domestic violence against other partners, and the content of his text messages with Martinez that night.”

Ledesma was questioned by police in 2010 and claimed he was home the day she disappeared and was at a family party when the car fire was set. His brother “vouched for his alibi,” and investigators were unable to disprove it, the DA’s office notes.

Martinez’s case was examined again in 2024 by the office’s Cold Case Task Force and experts were brought in to analyze the phone data, which led to Ledesma being charged in February 2025 with Martinez’s murder.

A Monterey County jury found Ledesma guilty on Tuesday. He’s due to be sentenced next month on March 12, with prosecutors saying he will receive a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life in prison.