Carson City Sheriff's Office arrest report contains Martinez-Guzman confession

A probable cause arrest report released Friday by the Carson City Sheriff's Office on 19-year-old murder suspect Wilber Ernesto Martinez-Guzman contains a confession under Miranda.

According to the arrest report, Guzman told investigators that firearms stolen from the house of Jerry and Sherri David, the elderly South Reno couple found murdered in their home, were buried in the area of Sedge Road in East Carson City.

Martinez-Guzman said he had buried the firearms there after killing the Davids with a .22-caliber revolver, which he had stolen from the residence on a previous occasion, the arrest report said.

Detectives combed the Sedge Road area and located freshly dug soil. After digging about 25-30 inches into the ground, investigators recovered 11 firearms from the dig site wrapped in a grey tarp.

One of those guns was a Steyr Safe Bolt 7-by-64 "Manlicher," known to be a very rare firearm and one owned by Jerry David, whose weapon was noted to be missing from the residence, the report said.

Other weapons recovered included the following:

— Savage Sporter Model 23AA .22 LR with Weaver scope.
— Cherry's Inc. GSO NC 7.62x39 with bayonet.
— Ithaca Gun Co. M-49 .22 LR lever action rifle.
— Remington Model 11-87 20-gauge shot gun.
— Savage Model 93R17 .17HMR.
— Ranger 20-gauge side-by-side shotgun.
— Remington Model 870 Wingmaster Magnum 12-gauge.
— Iver Johnson Arms Champion .410 Bore, 410-gauge.
— Weatherby Mark V .270 magnum rifle with Leupold scope.
— Remington 11-87 12-gauge.

At the time of Martinez-Guzman's Jan. 19 arrest, investigators learned that a firearm believed to have been the weapon used in the four homicides was located in the suspect's vehicle, the report said.

A Douglas County search warrant allowed a search of the vehicle and Martinez-Guzman's residence on Menlo Drive in Carson City.

A High Standard Sentinel .22 LR revolver was recovered from the vehicle. An iWatch and Macintosh computer matching the description of those stolen from victim Connie Koontz of Gardnerville at the time of her murder were located in the residence, the report said.

Several belt buckles bearing the names of the Davids were found in the residence, along with two sets of golf clubs (Cobra and Maxflight), a toolbox with hand tools, and a Milwaukee portable drill and charger, the report said.

The name on the golf clubs matched that of a victim of residential burglary occurring on Thurman Circle in Carson City, the report said.

According to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, Martinez-Guzman was in the United States illegally. This prohibited him from possessing firearms.

Martinez-Guzman was arraigned Thursday in Carson City on 36 counts, including stolen property possession, burglary and prohibited person possessing a firearm.

Koontz, 56, of Gardnerville was the first of four murder victims. Her body was discovered on Jan. 10.

Then 74-year-old Sophia Renken was found dead, the victim of a homicide, three days later on Jan. 13 in her Gardnerville home.

The bodies of 81-year-old Jerry David, a former Reno Rodeo president, and his wife, 80-year-old Sherri David were discovered Jan. 16 in their home on La Guardia Lane in South Reno.

Martinez-Guzman was identified Jan. 18 as a suspect in the four homicides occurring between Douglas and Washoe counties. The next day, he was apprehended and taken into custody.

He remains in the Carson City Detention Center on a no-bail immigration hold.

District attorneys from Washoe and Douglas counties will be holding a noon press conference at the Washoe County District Attorney's Office in Reno Monday to discuss the possibility of charging Martinez-Guzman with murder.

For more on this and other Northern Nevada stories, visit http://www.carsonnow.org.