Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Organized Crime

Alleged Calif. hitman pleads guilty to Alabama murder and is sentenced to 50 years in prison

Associated Press
Published | Updated

MOULTON, Ala. – An alleged hitman charged in 11 killings in California and Florida has pleaded guilty to murder in Alabama.

Court records show 52-year-old Jose Manuel Martinez pleaded guilty Thursday to shooting Jose Ruiz in Lawrence County in March 2013. A judge sentenced him to 50 years in prison.

Investigators say Ruiz was shot to death after making a derogatory remark about Martinez's daughter.

Police say that once Martinez was arrested in that case he claimed to be a contract killer for drug cartels who has killed dozens of people in several states.

Authorities have since charged Martinez with nine contract murders in California, and defense lawyer Tommy Turner says Martinez is charged in two more slayings in Florida.

Turner says Martinez will likely be sent to Florida first to face charges.