Man Accused of Decapitating Woman Arrested with Severed Hand In His Pocket

Solomon Martinez, 25, was arrested in Pueblo, Colorado last week at his place of employment -- and had the human remains in a plastic bag in the chest pocket of his jacket at the time, police say. According to court docs, via KRDO, he said at one point, "I had a hand in my jacket for two days."

An arrest affidavit detailed the events leading up to his capture.

The suspect's roommate told police Martinez showed up to a carwash around 5am on January 9th covered in dirt and blood.

The roommate said Martinez asked him to dig a 10-foot hole for him, offering to knock "$1,000 off your debt" for help. He also claimed the suspect used a power washer to get the blood off his hands and was secretive about "something big" in his trunk.

Another witness said Martinez also told him he needed to dig a deep hole that same day, before he said the suspect allegedly dragged what appeared to be the body of a woman out of his vehicle and down to a creek bed. The man told police the victim was decapitated, but her head was still with the body; he said he also took video of the corpse.

The witness showed the video to Martinez's roommate, as well as police. Martinez was then apprehended at his place of employment, with the hand in his pocket; police believe the hand belongs to the victim.

After being shown photos of the victim, Martinez allegedly told authorities he did spend time with her the previous evening, picking her up for sex work, but denied killing her. He reportedly blamed the witness -- not his roommate -- for the killing, saying the man borrowed his car, which had his phone and gun inside it, and must have tracked the victim down after he dropped her off.

The suspect's hands were cut up, said cops, but he told authorities the scrapes were from rocks while picking up dog poop.

As for the severed hand, he reportedly said the witness asked him to pick it up.

Martinez was working as a security guard at the time of his arrest, but reportedly had no criminal history and passed all background checks before he was hired. He had only been working for the company, run by former Pueblo County Sheriff Dan Corsentino, for just more than 50 hours before he was arrested.