Disturbing new details have been released in the case of a Burien man accused of fatally stabbing his girlfriend and her roommate in what prosecutors describe as a horrific act of domestic violence. Court documents from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office identify 29-year-old Marvin Ortiz Montecinos as the alleged attacker.
He is being held on $10 million bail and faces two counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors say Ortiz Montecinos first targeted his girlfriend, 28-year-old Victoria Aparicio Cruz, stabbing her more than 20 times. Her roommate, 30-year-old Yaneth Gomez-Hernandez, was killed while trying to intervene and was found with 43 stab wounds and defensive injuries.
“Both women’s hands sustained severe lacerations as they attempted to defend themselves from the defendant’s fillet knife,” King County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Thomas O’Ban wrote in charging documents. “Simply put, this crime was horrific.”
The report describes the women’s injuries as extremely violent, including “sawed” jugular and carotid veins, a partially severed spinal cord, and postmortem stab wounds. Prosecutors say the attack followed shortly after Ortiz Montecinos expressed anger at Aparicio Cruz for ending their relationship.
The King County Sheriff’s Office said the case came to light when a 911 caller reported finding a man bleeding outside the Montrose Apartments in Burien on Sept. 8. The man, later identified as Ortiz Montecinos, had superficial stab wounds to his back, chest, and head. Deputies followed a trail of blood to Apartment #58, where they discovered the bodies of the two women inside.
Ortiz Montecinos initially claimed that an unidentified man had killed the women and then stabbed him. However, investigators determined his story was inconsistent with the evidence. There were no signs of forced entry, no indication of another attacker, and no blood where he said the assailant had hidden.
Medical staff at Harborview Medical Center confirmed his wounds were superficial, further undermining his account. Detectives also uncovered inconsistencies between his statements and his digital message history, according to KOMO.
Evidence collected at the scene included a buried filet knife consistent with the women’s injuries, a trail of blood leading directly to Ortiz Montecinos, and a single set of bloody footprints matching both his sandals and bare foot.
Forensic analysis of phones recovered at the apartment revealed a heated exchange between Aparicio Cruz and Ortiz Montecinos just over an hour before the attack. She indicated she wanted to end the relationship, to which he replied, “Tell me, you broke up with me, I want to tell you something,” followed by, “I can get there.”
The charges qualify the killings as crimes of domestic violence under Washington state law. Prosecutors also cited deliberate cruelty and the use of a deadly weapon as aggravating factors that could increase sentencing if he is convicted. Ortiz Montecinos, who has family in Guatemala, was deemed a flight risk by prosecutors, leading to the $10 million bail request. His arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 17.