LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A Los Angeles County judge has sentenced 43-year-old Octavio Curiel Martinez to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2018 murder of his pregnant wife, Ana Maria Nunez.
A jury also convicted Martinez of several additional charges, including attempted murder of his father, corporal injury to a spouse, and three misdemeanor counts of child endangerment involving the couple’s two children and his stepson. Jurors confirmed prosecutors’ special allegations that Martinez committed multiple murders and used a handgun in the crime.
Prosecutors said Martinez had a history of domestic violence, including assaults in December 2016 and December 2017, one of which left his wife unconscious while their children were present. A month before Nunez’s murder, Martinez allegedly fired at his father’s car as he drove away.
Following the murder, Martinez fled the United States but was apprehended by Mexican authorities approximately six months later. He has been in custody since March 2019.
During the trial, prosecutors argued that Martinez killed his wife because he believed her pregnancy was the result of an alleged affair between Nunez and his father — a claim both the wife and father denied. Martinez’s defense attorneys sought to use his six-year history of methamphetamine use to explain erratic behavior and persuade the jury to acquit him of first-degree murder, but the jury convicted him on all counts.
The sentencing brings closure to a case marked by family tragedy, allegations of domestic abuse, and violent escalation that ultimately led to a brutal murder.
