A Florida landscaper accused of murdering the mother of his young child had tried to persuade people she was missing because she was picked up by ICE, according to authorities.
Mexican native Saul Garcia Gonzalez, 40, came up with the ruse after he allegedly shot Nerida Martel, 37, in the head and dumped her body in a Miami canal last month, according to a police report obtained by WPLG.
Realizing her friends and family would be panicked about her whereabouts, he told them “that he believed the victim was possibly in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” the report said.
However, when Martel’s name did not show up in custody records, friends persuaded him to report her missing, which he did on Oct. 9, three days after he claimed to have last seen her dropping their 2-year-old daughter off at daycare.
Two days after he finally reported her missing, Martel’s body was found in a canal close to their home — with a gunshot to the head.
Investigators soon found inconsistencies with the boyfriend’s story — and were told the murdered mom “reached out to a friend seeking a place to stay for only her and her daughter,” the report stated, adding that relatives knew Gonzalez to be verbally abusive.
Phone records tracked Gonzalez to the canal around the time she disappeared, according to police.
Gonzalez, a Mexican-born landscaper, was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree murder.
He was booked at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Thursday where he’s being held without bond. It was not clear why he had suggested his murdered ex would be picked up by ICE or if she was in the US illegally.
