A Colorado man, caught with the severed hand of a dead woman in his coat pocket, has been convicted of her murder.
Solomon Martinez, 27, was found guilty of first-degree murder, tampering with a deceased human body, and abuse of a corpse in connection with the death of 47-year-old Renee Portillos, whose remains were found near a creek in Pueblo in January 2024, the Pueblo County 10th Judicial District Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday, March 13.
“The prosecution presented compelling evidence over a 14-day trial, including testimony, phone records, location data, and autopsy results, all of which pointed to Martinez’s guilt,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Portillos’ decapitated remains were discovered on Jan. 10, 2024, near Fountain Creek after a roommate of Martinez’s tipped off police, according to an arrest affidavit reviewed by the Pueblo Chieftain.
Solomon Martinez.
Pueblo Police Department
When Martinez, a security guard, was arrested, authorities found “a human hand inside a plastic bag inside the left chest pocket of Martinez’s jacket,” according to the affidavit.
After being questioned, Martinez allegedly told police that “the hand had been in his jacket for two days.”
During the trial, prosecutors said Portillos’ DNA was discovered in Martinez’s vehicle, the Pueblo Chieftain reported. Authorities also found Portillos’ DNA and Martinez’s DNA on a condom, per the Chieftain.
Martinez allegedly admitted to killing Portillos in jail calls he made to his mother, prosecutors said, per the Chieftain.
Martinez’s defense attorneys alleged at trial that Portillos shot herself while high on fentanyl, prosecutors said.
Martinez was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, per the Chieftain.
Cathy Peralta, Renee Portillos’s sister, told the Chieftain that Martinez “was an evil man, and hearing all the evidence, I couldn’t believe how sick and demented he is.”
“It’s bittersweet, we can’t get her back,” she continued. “But we finally got justice. Now, what happens to him in prison, he made his bed and he can lie in it. Now my sister can rest.”
