Sleeping victim in Monroe suffered massive knife assault

Published 1:30 am Monday, March 4, 2019

MONROE — A Monroe man was stabbed to death while he slept on a couch, and he suffered so many knife wounds they were difficult to count, according to new charging documents.

Evodio Garcia Martinez, 56, often went to bed with a blanket covering his face to muffle the noise of his roommates at an apartment on Terrace Street. On Feb. 9, he’d fallen asleep on his couch near the front door around 9 p.m. Four of the roommates went out to the Tulalip Resort Casino.

All seemed normal and quiet when they came back at 2 a.m., according to the charges.

One of the men opened the door to his bedroom to find a man — his face hidden by a bandana and baseball cap — swinging two butcher knives. The intruder slashed the man across the face. The injury needed stitches. The intruder kept attacking with the blades and his fists, court papers say. A second roommate suffered knife wounds to the shoulder and elbow.

Two roommates ran just outside of the apartment, and the intruder locked them out, leaving himself inside with the two others, according to the charges. They fought back with a vacuum cleaner and pinned him down.

The bandana came off of the attacker’s face in the struggle. One of the wounded men claims to have recognized him: Kevin Rodriguez, 28, of Monroe, who had lived at the apartment in the past.

During the scuffle, the group kept bumping against the couch where Garcia Martinez had slept. Garcia Martinez did not move. The blanket slid off him to reveal he’d suffered grave injuries to his face and body. A medical examiner’s report was still pending when the charges were filed.

Eventually the men disarmed Rodriguez. Police arrived.

“Hurry, hurry, he’s in here,” said the man with the face injury, holding a blue rag to his wound. “He killed him.”

Police could hear thumping sounds inside. Seven people lived in the apartment. An officer entered to see about seven men surrounding Rodriguez. His hands were empty, with a copper wire tied around his wrist as a restraint. Rodriguez tried to push his way through the crowd, records show.

Two officers fought to gain control of him. The tenants did not recognize the butcher knives. Police believe Rodriguez had brought them. Knife marks checkered the blanket. Prosecutors believe Garcia Martinez was covered up and sleeping when he was stabbed.

The new charges do not identify a possible motive.

The court papers say Rodriguez spoke constantly but little of what he said made sense, except for the phrase, “I hurt him, I hurt him.” Rodriguez had moved away from the apartment “a while ago,” reported one of the roommates. Rodriguez did not have a key, nor was he welcome to be there uninvited.

In his pocket police found a lighter and a crumpled piece of aluminum foil. From past run-ins, they knew Rodriguez abused methamphetamine and alcohol, court papers say.

Rodriguez has a felony record of possessing drugs and stolen vehicles, as well as misdemeanors for domestic violence.

His most recent conviction was for felony malicious mischief, for throwing a rock through the window of a bistro on Lewis Street. Court papers say he’d accused the business owner of not paying him for work from years earlier. The owner looked into it, but found no record that he ever worked there.

Rodriguez is charged with second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree assault. He’s being held in the Snohomish County Jail with bail set at $1 million.

Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.