Murder For Hire - Texas
Young mother accused of hiring hitman to kill her firefighter husband-->By: Ray Doughty
Updated: March 11, 2012
A Texas woman has been accused of hiring a hit man to kill her husband.
Brittany Martinez, 24, has been charged with solicitation of capital murder.
According to court records, Martinez paid a friend $1,000 as a down payment for the killing.
She did not care how her husband, Adrian Ray Martinez, was killed, but she wanted him to die at Houston Fire Station 60, where he worked, court documents state.
"She provided a vehicle description, work schedule, license plate, where cameras were positioned in parking lots so it would not be caught on camera, provided money and wanted to know when it was done," Assistant Harris County District Attorney Paula Hartman said.
The friend went to police, and Brittany Martinez was arrested on Tuesday.
Prosecutors said they do not know why she wanted to kill her husband.
According to a blog Brittany Martinez wrote and updated last month, she and her husband are the parents of a 4-year-old girl and an infant son.
She wrote that she was looking forward to her upcoming wedding anniversary.
"Adrian and I will be celebrating our 5th anniversary this October, for which we will be throwing formal party/vow renewal," she wrote. "We will be able to have the wedding we didn't get to have and say our vows again, this time truly understanding what those words me. Eeek, I'm so excited! :)"
George Parnham, Brittany Martinez's attorney, said his client recently applied to adopt a child, a member of her extended family, so hiring a hit man to kill her husband does not make sense.
"It's a bizarre scenario," Parnham said. "We're going to delve into it and talk to as many witnesses as we can."
Neighbor Ashley Williams said Brittany Martinez seemed nice and appeared to be a good mother.
"This morning I was on my phone looking at the news and I said, 'Oh my gosh, it's her.' This is crazy," Williams said.
Brittany Martinez is being held in the Harris County Jail without bond.
If convicted of solicitation of capital murder, a first-degree felony, she could face up to life in prison.
Brittany Martinez, 24, has been charged with solicitation of capital murder.
According to court records, Martinez paid a friend $1,000 as a down payment for the killing.
She did not care how her husband, Adrian Ray Martinez, was killed, but she wanted him to die at Houston Fire Station 60, where he worked, court documents state.
"She provided a vehicle description, work schedule, license plate, where cameras were positioned in parking lots so it would not be caught on camera, provided money and wanted to know when it was done," Assistant Harris County District Attorney Paula Hartman said.
The friend went to police, and Brittany Martinez was arrested on Tuesday.
Prosecutors said they do not know why she wanted to kill her husband.
According to a blog Brittany Martinez wrote and updated last month, she and her husband are the parents of a 4-year-old girl and an infant son.
She wrote that she was looking forward to her upcoming wedding anniversary.
"Adrian and I will be celebrating our 5th anniversary this October, for which we will be throwing formal party/vow renewal," she wrote. "We will be able to have the wedding we didn't get to have and say our vows again, this time truly understanding what those words me. Eeek, I'm so excited! :)"
George Parnham, Brittany Martinez's attorney, said his client recently applied to adopt a child, a member of her extended family, so hiring a hit man to kill her husband does not make sense.
"It's a bizarre scenario," Parnham said. "We're going to delve into it and talk to as many witnesses as we can."
Neighbor Ashley Williams said Brittany Martinez seemed nice and appeared to be a good mother.
"This morning I was on my phone looking at the news and I said, 'Oh my gosh, it's her.' This is crazy," Williams said.
Brittany Martinez is being held in the Harris County Jail without bond.
If convicted of solicitation of capital murder, a first-degree felony, she could face up to life in prison.
