TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

'I Loved Her,' Man Says Of Fiancee He's Accused Of Killing

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 14, 2008

  Jamie Cruz Rodriguez

Jamie Cruz Rodriguez said he loved his fiancée and would never have hurt her.

Hillsborough County deputies disagree. They charged him last month with first-degree murder in Lisa Lynn Martinez's slaying March 29.

"I loved her very much. I do love her," he said during a recent phone interview from Falkenburg Road Jail. "We were engaged to be married. We were engaged Christmas Day to be married sometime in July. It's a sad tragedy. I'm, like, really lost for words right now. I am innocent. We'll prove it in court that I am innocent."

Martinez's son and daughter-in-law say they had seen and heard warning signs that Rodriguez was dangerous long before Martinez was found strangled. A relative told them once that Rodriguez had tried to choke Martinez.

"From the time that he moved here, he was very, very controlling," said Laura Martinez, 26, who unsuccessfully tried to warn Lisa Martinez to escape from Rodriguez. "When he moved down here, he pushed everybody away from her. Nobody could stand him. He was constantly pulling everybody away."

"She never actually said that he hit her," said Jose Martinez, 27. "I know she said he had pushed her. … He used to think she was cheating on him. He used to hide a camera in the house."

Lisa Martinez got a restraining order against Rodriguez, but she still allowed him into her home, her family said.

There were more than 115,000 domestic violence incidents reported in Florida last year, and domestic violence accounted for 16 percent of the state's 1,202 murders.

Though most women who leave volatile domestic situations aren't killed, the vast majority of those who are slain showed an indication to leave, pressing for divorce or restraining orders, said Nikki Daniels, executive director of the Family Justice Center. No data was immediately available on how the struggling economy might be affecting domestic relationships. But domestic violence counselors have reported seeing an increase in cases overall, as well the level of violence in those cases, Daniels said.

In March, Lisa Martinez's 11-year-old son heard Lisa and Rodriguez arguing, and he went back to sleep without hearing Rodriguez leave. When the boy woke up and looked for his mother, he found her dead downstairs, Hillsborough County deputies say.

Martinez, 42, had bruises on her neck, chest, arms and shoulders.

Her underwear, found around her knees, tested positive for Rodriguez's DNA, a criminal arrest affidavit states. Rodriguez's DNA couldn't be excluded from tests on swabbings of injuries on Martinez's neck and the center of her chest.

Rodriguez, a 42-year-old welder from Tampa, has been held in jail without bail since May on separate charges. In October, he was charged with first-degree murder and attempted sexual battery in connection with the Tampa woman's slaying, and he continues to be held without bail.

Rodriguez said he was at his own apartment when Martinez was attacked.

He said he doesn't have any idea why someone would strangle her. Her family accused him of being with her for her money, he said, but he didn't want it.

A witness told detectives that about 8 a.m. March 29, Rodriguez was seen in his car, parked about a block from Martinez's Sunshine Circle home. Rodriguez sped away from the neighborhood and did not stop at the posted stop signs, the sheriff's office said.

Martinez and Rodriguez lived together as a family in Martinez's home, detectives said. Martinez had asked Rodriguez to get out of her house one week before she was slain, the sheriff's office said.

Rodriguez was arrested on a drug charge March 29. He was being questioned about Martinez's death when a crack pipe fell out of his pocket, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.

Rodriguez was released from jail the next day after posting $2,500 bail. He was arrested again May 27 and charged with grand theft, possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

When questioned about what happened prior to Martinez's death, Rodriguez told investigators that he had wanted to have sex with Martinez but couldn't because of her menstrual cycle, the affidavit states.

The morning Martinez's body was found, he said, he was nowhere near her home. He said he was at a beach.

He said her death has been hell for him. It cost him his fiancée, custody of his children, his apartment and his job, he said.

Rodriguez has known Martinez since they were in the third grade and said he has always been drawn to her. Rodriguez moved to the area in November 2006, and they started dating again after that, he said.

Last year, he said, he picked out an engagement ring at the Jewelry Exchange, handed her the ring and asked her to marry him.

She said yes and cried the whole day, he said.

Deputies say the relationship was far from perfect. Rodriguez said Martinez made up those domestic issues, though he wasn't sure why.

"A lot of people thought I was taking her away from them, and it wasn't true," he said. "A lot of people know me from being around Lisa and know how much of a gentleman I am. … People live and learn and they grow. I was a loving guy to her. I did everything whatsoever for her, and everybody seen that, and there was a lot of hostility."

Laura Martinez said Rodriguez is making himself out to be a good guy but is anything but.

Lisa Martinez's 16-year-old adopted daughter told Laura Martinez of abuse in the home and how Lisa was scared she was going to be hurt.

"Lisa was the type of person that thought she could change everybody. She thought she could help everybody. She was great, great, great," Laura Martinez said. "He had her blinded. Everybody tried telling her that he wasn't right for her. We tried to tell her how controlling he was. … A lot of people are angry and mad at themselves because a lot of us knew."

Researcher Michael Messano contributed to this report. Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT