Chicago: Noe Martinez and family murdered in ‘targeted incident’
Chicago police said late Friday they believe six family members found dead in their southwest side home were killed in a “targeted incident,” though they’re still trying to determine a possible motive.
It’s possible someone in the family “was involved in something that could have targeted them,” or that the killings occurred during a robbery or a domestic incident, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office on Friday released the results of the autopsies of the six victims, whose deaths were all ruled homicides.
Family members and the medical examiner’s office have identified the victims as: Noe Martinez Sr., 62 and his wife, 58-year-old Rosaura; their adult children, 38-year-old Noe Martinez Jr. and 32-year-old Maria Herminia Martinez; and Herminia’s sons, 10-year-old Alexis Cruz and 13-year-old Leonardo Cruz.
Autopsies found the boys suffered “sharp force” injuries, which a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office defined as either a stabbing or cutting wound, or both. The office did not speculate on what kind of weapon was used.
Herminia died of gunshot wounds. Noe Martinez Sr. died of “sharp force” wounds. And his wife and his son, Noe Jr., died of “multiple sharp and blunt force injuries,” autopsies showed.
Police entered the house in Chicago’s Gage Park neighborhood after receiving a call from a co-worker to check on a woman who lived there. She missed two days of work, which was unusual.
Police arriving at the single-family home just after 1 p.m. saw one body, went inside and saw five more bodies.
Authorities initially said it was possible one person killed the other five before taking his or her own life.
Police have added extra patrols as a precaution, though Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi on Friday repeated earlier police statements that they don’t believe the general public is in danger. There was no forced entry into the home and the house wasn’t ransacked.
“This appears certainly centered and targeted on that family, and what we’re trying to do is figure out why,” he said.
Noe Martinez and family
