A small apartment complex in Burien, Washington, became the scene of unimaginable violence earlier this month when two women were found stabbed to death inside their home. Now, prosecutors say the man responsible was one of the victims’ own boyfriend. Marvin Ortiz-Montecinos, 29, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, with deadly weapon enhancements, in the killings of 24-year-old Victoria Aparicio Cruz and her roommate, 32-year-old Yaneth Gomez-Hernandez. He is being held on $10 million bail, with arraignment scheduled for Sept. 18.
Complete Overkill
Charging documents detail a crime of staggering cruelty. Prosecutors allege Ortiz-Montecinos attacked Cruz with a filet knife, cutting her throat and stabbing her repeatedly even after she was no longer responsive. Gomez-Hernandez, they say, was murdered as she tried to intervene. She was stabbed 43 times, her wounds so severe that prosecutors described them as evidence the attacker was not simply stabbing but sawing at his victims. Both women, according to court filings, suffered devastating injuries to their necks.
A Bloody Scene
A man was taken to a hospital following a police-involved shooting in Port Orange. It happened in the area of Chamale Lane (pictured) and Kerry Court late Monday afternoon, Sept. 1, according to police.
The killings unfolded on the night of Sept. 8 at the Montrose apartments. A neighbor called 911 around 9:30 p.m. after finding Ortiz-Montecinos collapsed outside, covered in blood. Deputies who responded quickly discovered a trail of blood leading into the third-floor unit, where they found both women lying on the bedroom floor, soaked in blood.
A Quickly Unraveling Story
Technology cables are intertwined under handcuffs used for securing inmates in a courtroom in the Milwaukee County Public Safety Building in Milwaukee on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025.
Ortiz-Montecinos was transported to Harborview Medical Center for treatment of what police described as stab wounds to his head, chest, and back. But almost immediately, detectives said his story began to unravel. He claimed an unknown Black man had broken into the apartment while he slept, killed the women, and attacked him before fleeing. Investigators noted the apartment showed no signs of forced entry. Instead, there was a single set of bloody footprints leading from the bedroom to the front door, and blood was discovered on the inside of the deadbolt—suggesting the killer had locked the door from within before leaving. Prosecutors say Ortiz-Montecinos’s own phone records also contradict his version of events. Roughly an hour before the neighbor’s 911 call, he allegedly texted Cruz, despite later claiming to have been asleep. Earlier that evening, he had complained about her breaking up with him, prosecutors allege.
A Truly Senseless Crime
The crime scene on Strathmore Road, Aug. 22.
The murders shocked friends and family who remembered Cruz as warm and ambitious, and Gomez-Hernandez as a loving presence in her community. Their deaths also rattled neighbors at the Montrose apartments, many of whom say they are still processing the horror of what happened so close to home. Ortiz-Montecinos is due back in court later this week. If convicted, he faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison.
