Man accused in murder of significant other at Tuscumbia plant changes plea
TUSCUMBIA, Ala. (WHNT) — A 59-year-old man accused in the murder of his ‘long-term’ significant other at a Tuscumbia plant has changed his plea.
Tuscumbia Police Department (TPD) Chief Tony Logan said Victor Manuel Funez Cruz was arrested after authorities investigated an incident that happened on July 11 at McVantage Packaging on Hwy 43.
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He originally pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, but on April 11, Colbert County Circuit Judge Kyle Brown granted a motion to change his plea to ‘not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.’
The court also ordered Cruz undergo an out-patient evaluation of his competency to stand trial and mental state at the time of the offense.
A Colbert County Grand Jury indicted Cruz during the September 2023 term. The indictment document states he caused the death of 59-year-old Edith Margarita Martinez by striking her with a hammer.
Chief Logan said at the time of the incident that officers responded to the packaging business just before 1 p.m. for an assault in progress. When police arrived, they found Martinez lying on the ground with “severe head injuries.”
Police believe the incident was domestic-related, saying the man and woman work at the plant but in different areas. Logan said police thought the two may have had a years-long relationship prior to the incident.
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“They’d obviously been a long-term relationship, they had different last names, both originally were from Honduras,” the chief said. “But we were told they had been in a many-year relationship, and they may even possibly have children together.”
Court documents say Cruz later confessed to officers that he and Martinez were arguing over “jealousy/infidelity” and during the argument, he claims Martinez “swung a metal pipe at him.”
The affidavit says during Cruz’s confession he advised them that in anger, he’d hit Martinez in the arm with a hammer and caused her to “spin.” The hammer then allegedly broke and Cruz said he hit her multiple times in the head with a metal pipe while she was on the ground.
Authorities also reported that they found “blood splatter in several directions.” Several items were found covered in blood, including the hammer and metal pipe which were found in a 50-gallon drum.
Cruz’s jury trial is currently set for June 4, 2024, court records show.
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