Alexander Fitzgerald Marshall appears, inset, in a mugshot against an image of the area where he previously lived in Las Vegas, Nev. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department; Screengrab via KSNV)
A Nevada man killed his wife while the dying woman’s son and daughter were frantically trying, in various ways, to get ahold of law enforcement and save her life, police in Las Vegas allege.
Alexander Fitzgerald Marshall, 62, stands accused of one count of open murder, according to a press release issued by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Clark County Jail records.
Police in the Sin City say Marshall killed his wife, Ma-Del Sagrario Diaz-Torres, in the midst of a long-boiling jealous rage – several days after she spoke to a male waiter in Spanish during dinner at a restaurant.
Shortly after midnight on Monday, the woman’s son flagged down a patrol car, telling officers his mother was being strangled by his stepfather, according to an arrest report obtained by Law&Crime.
Officers entered the home and found Diaz-Torres “upstairs lying on a couch unresponsive with a slight pulse” as well as “apparent blood” and “several sharp force injuries to her chest area,” the report says.
The deceased woman’s daughter explained the domestic trouble that had consumed the house in the days before her mother died.
“Marshall and Ma-Del Sagrario had been arguing over the past few days due to an incident that occurred while they were out at dinner,” the arrest report reads. “[The daughter] described Marshall as being overly jealous of Ma-Del Sagrario and her interaction with males. While Ma-Del Sagrario was conversing with one of the male waiters in Spanish, Marshall became upset. Due to the argument, Ma-Del Sagrario had been sleeping in [redacted] room or on the couch.”
On the night in question, the woman’s daughter allegedly told police, she arrived home to yet another argument in progress and later fell asleep. She woke up to the sound of her mother screaming and went to go see what was going on. According to the arrest report, Marshall was straddling his wife on a couch, choking her with his right hand. The woman’s daughter said she tried to intervene but that Marshall threatened to hurt her next if she did anything.
Next, the daughter ran into a bathroom, tried to call her brother, hung up, and then called 911, the arrest report says, “but due to the long wait time she hung up” and called her brother again.
At some point, the daughter told police, she heard her mother stop screaming – and assumed she had lost consciousness. Then, she heard what she described as Marshall’s footsteps leave the room, go to a bedroom, and close and lock the door. Soon enough, however, the door opened again, the footsteps resumed, and she heard her mother “screaming hysterically.” The daughter took the opportunity to run at that time, she said, leaving the house to what she described as a “punching” sound – thinking Marshall had been punching the couch.
The woman’s daughter then ran through the neighborhood looking for help and started to run up to a car when she realized it was Marshall driving towards her, the arrest report says. She ran the opposite way, watching the maroon Nissan pickup leave the area.
During a separate police interview, Diaz Torres’ son told police he missed a call from his sister but picked up the second time – learning about the alleged violence at their house on Shadow Grove Avenue. The son drove home as the officers he flagged down followed close behind. That group discovered the worst and the woman’s son “began shaking” his mother’s dead body, so officers told him to go outside.
A spokesperson for the LVMPD told local NBC affiliate KSNV that Marshall was found traveling down the 215 Beltway and pursued by police after they attempted a traffic stop. Police eventually used the pursuit intervention technique, or PIT maneuver, wherein a chasing vehicle slams into the side of a fleeing vehicle and forces it to spin out. Then, police say, Marshall “barricaded” himself inside his truck before he was finally arrested at around 5:35 a.m.
During a subsequent interview, the defendant allegedly admitted to “experiencing marital problems” and said he “was trying to get their relationship back to where it was,” the arrest report says.
Marshall also allegedly “confirmed” the spat about the waiter to LVMPD detectives – saying they had an “argument” about “her speaking to one of the waiters when Marshall was not around.”
The night before, Marshall allegedly told police, he came home from work with a bottle of Bacardi and mixed it “with Coca-Cola.”
“Marshall was unsure how much Bacardi he consumed,” police wrote.
Marshall allegedly told police that when his wife arrived, he tried to talk to her about their relationship – but in the process, he also “retrieved a vibrator sex toy and placed his wedding band on it and presented it” to his wife. After that, apparently, she did not want to talk. This “frustrated” Marshall.
“Marshall admitted to choking Ma-Del Sagrario but did not remember what caused him to do it,” the arrest report goes on. “Marshall admitted to retrieving a ‘steel’ kitchen knife from the bedroom, which was previous [sic] placed in the bedroom, and stabbing Ma-Del Sagrario. Marshall believes he stabbed Ma-Del Sagrario a couple of times but did not remember how many in total.”
The defendant was booked into jail in absentia because he was first taken to a hospital to deal with unidentified injuries, police said.
In comments to KSNV, LVMPD Lt. Jason Johansson said the injuries were likely self-inflicted and from the circumstances of his arrest.
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