Man suspected of killing Othello women could be deported

OTHELLO, Wash. - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is moving to deport a man suspected of killing two women and leaving their dismembered bodies in an abandoned car in the central Washington town of Othello, officials said.

Mauricio Nava-Garibay is a citizen of Mexico who is in the United States illegally, according to a news release from ICE. ICE has lodged an immigration detainer with Adams County Jail, where Nava-Garibay is being held, The Spokesman-Review reported.

The detainer is a request for the jail to hold Nava-Garibay 48 hours after he would otherwise be released, whether he posts bail, prosecutors drop charges against him or after a finding of guilt or innocence. It wasn’t immediately known if Nava-Garibay has an attorney to comment on his case.

Nava-Garibay confessed to killing 57-year-old Dora Martinez and her 30-year-old relative Guadalupe Martinez last Thursday, according to probable cause documents.

Adams County sheriff’s deputies arrested Nava-Garibay Thursday, hours after finding the bodies. The man waived his rights and agreed to an interview, according to court documents.

He told authorities he got in a fight with his girlfriend, Dora Martinez, on Wednesday evening and that she hit him, according to court documents. He told her he had a gift for her in the garage and then he stabbed her and strangled her, documents said.

Guadalupe Martinez entered the garage and Nava-Garibay told officers he also killed her, documents said. He said he dismembered their bodies, put them in a vehicle, drove a few miles and abandoned the vehicle.

Nava-Garibay is being held on two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of removal or concealment of a body.

Othello is about 180 miles southeast of Seattle.