Longmont CO: Mirabal Murder-Grocers say abuse signs were evident
Patty
Daily Times-Call
BOULDER — Natalie Mirabal had visible signs of apparent physical
abuse three weeks before her murder, two grocery store clerks told
investigators looking into her murder.
It also appeared her accused killer faced financial stress in the
months before the killing, according to documents from the murder
investigation unsealed Monday.
Two Safeway grocery cashiers told detectives four days after
Mirabal's murder that the 24-year-old mother was a familiar face in
their checkout lines, but she had a black left eye and what appeared to
be bruises on her neck in the shape of hand marks.
The information is included in hundreds of pages of arrest and
search warrant affidavits district court Judge Daniel Hale unsealed
Monday after the completion of 21-year-old suspect Matthew Mirabal's
preliminary hearing on a first-degree murder charge.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison or death.
The possibility of domestic violence is surprising.
No family members of Matthew or Natalie Mirabal were aware of any
violence in their home, including Natalie Mirabal's 15-year-old
brother, who lived with them.
Investigators seized dozens of items in searches after the murder,
including documents revealing he had declared bankruptcy nine months
before the slaying.
Investigators found Matthew Mirabal was the sole beneficiary of a
$250,000 life insurance policy on his wife, and that the couple had
applied originally for a $1 million policy.
Investigators speculated that the insurance could have been a way
out of financial difficulties for Mirabal.
He told investigators in his only videotaped interview that he and
Natalie were also trying join a multilevel marketing program, in
addition to filing for federal bankruptcy last December.
Evidence mentioned in the affidavits also appears to more solidly
tie Mirabal to a pair of bloody gloves found in his wife's abandoned
car.
A left-hand Wells Lamont Handyman Jersey cotton glove discovered in
the Toyota Corolla had Matthew and Natalie Mirabal's blood on it.
Packaging for the same type of glove was found in the trash of
Mirabal's employer, Precision Painting, in a bag that had his
fingerprint on the outside.
Investigators traced the items to an Aurora Wal-Mart, one affidavit
said, and a surveillance camera recorded a man who looks like Mirabal
buying the work gloves, a black Mini Maglite flashlight and a black
sheet on Sept. 24, two days before the murder.
A black Mini Maglite with a small amount of blood on it was seized
as evidence in the case and is being tested at the Colorado Bureau of
Investigation to identify the blood's source.
Also included in the seized material are three pages of notebook
paper with handwriting that appears to be Mirabal's, saying:
"... my search for happiness has been a long and lonely
adventure ... I hurt those who really do care for me because my actions
are almost insane," an affidavit quotes.
Investigators also seized letters his brother's wife sent him daily
following his Oct. 21 arrest.
Affidavits indicate that investigators have not identified the knife
used to decapitate Natalie Mirabal, nor have they found a set of her
keys with an "N"-shaped key ring that has been missing since the
slaying.
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
eve
Thank you for printing the information about Matthew Mirabal. I am
extremely interested in this case. Please let me know if you find out
if the family is able to get him out on bail. The judge had it lowered
to $75,000.I believe.
* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
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DaniGran
there any further news?
Danielle
Teresa/Colorado
a plea on Jan. 7. I'll keep an eye out for
newspaper coverage and post it here if
no one beats me to it.
Teresa
"DaniGran" <dani...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000105132532...@ng-fq1.aol.com...
Teresa/Colorado
Matthew Mirabal pleads not guilty
Longmont man suspected of strangling and decapitating his wife faces trial
in June
By Christopher Anderson
Camera Staff Writer
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A 21-year-old Longmont man pleaded not guilty Friday to the first-degree
murder of his 24-year-old wife, Natalie Mirabal.
Matthew Mirabal is scheduled for trial in June for the September
strangulation and decapitation death.
He is being held in Boulder County Jail on a $750,000 bond. He was present
Friday for a brief arraignment hearing in Boulder District Judge Dan Hale's
courtroom.
Mirabal's next court appearance is a motions hearing scheduled Feb. 9.
He was arrested in connection with his wife's death on Oct. 22 after almost
a month of investigation.
On Sept. 26, about 3:30 a.m., Mirabal called 911, saying his wife went to a
Safeway grocery store near their apartment at 11 p.m. but did not return.
Longmont police interviewed Mirabal for several hours about his wife's
disappearance, and about 11 a.m. learned that Natalie's body was discovered
in Lefthand Canyon.
Detectives were suspicious of Mirabal but did not arrest him until they
thought they had enough evidence.
During a preliminary hearing in December, prosecutors disclosed that
detectives found a pair of bloody gloves in Natalie Mirabal's car, which was
found in the Safeway parking lot.
The gloves had blood matching the blood of Natalie and Matthew Mirabal. A
cut near the thumb of the glove also appeared to match a cut on Matthew
Mirabal's hand.
A piece of wood found near Natalie's body in the canyon appeared to fit with
a piece of wood found in the back of Matthew Mirabal's truck.
Prosecutors also allege that Mirabal took out a life insurance policy on his
wife, but not for himself.
Matthew Mirabal's brother, Marcus Mirabal, and fellow church members say the
Boulder County Sheriff's Department arrested the wrong man and that the true
killer remains free.
Mirabal's supporters are offering a $10,000 reward for the arrest and
conviction of the real killer.
Marcus Mirabal said Friday that the reward generated some tips and that
"some other things are turning up now." He declined to elaborate.
Natalie Mirabal's mother, Enselma Vasquez, said there is no doubt in her
family's mind that the evidence points to Matthew Mirabal.
"We know it's the right person," she said from her New Mexico home after
learning of Matthew's plea. "There is no way it could be somebody else."
Enselma has joint custody of the couple's 7-month-old daughter, Mikaela, who
also stays with Matthew Mirabal's mother, Patricia Mirabal.
"I am just grateful to be able to hold her," Vasquez said.
Teresa/Colorado
Mirabal murder trial set
Greg Avery
The Daily Times-Call
BOULDER - Murder suspect Matthew Mirabal entered a not-guilty plea in his
wife's death Friday and had his trial on first-degree murder charges
scheduled for the spring.
In a short afternoon hearing, Mirabal pleaded not guilty in the case, in
which he is suspected of strangling and then decapitating his 24-year-old
wife, Natalie Mirabal, on Sept. 26.
The young mother vanished from Longmont early that Sunday morning. Her
body was found hours later in Lefthand Canyon.
Last month, Boulder County sheriff's investigators laid out a case during
a preliminary hearing that reportedly connects Mirabal to the slaying
through blood traces found on a pair of gloves, through pieces of wood found
near his wife's body and in the utility box of his truck, and through
apparent premeditation in the couple's purchase of life insurance on Natalie
Mirabal which named her husband as the sole beneficiary, investigators said.
Friday's hearing started a 60-day clock on the prosecution's decision
about whether to seek the death penalty for Mirabal. They must notify the
defense and the judge within 60 days if the death penalty will be sought,
but after the hearing, prosecutor Laurence "Trip" DeMuth said the decision
has not yet been made.
Both sides are still waiting for results from Colorado Bureau of
Investigation tests of evidence in the case.
Meanwhile, Natalie Mirabal's family is preparing for the emotional
passing of her birthday: Jan. 25. Enselma Vasquez, her mother, said she has
been wrestling with the habitual urge to shop for her daughter's birthday
present this time of year.
"We're just trying to make it through. We miss Natalie," Vasquez said,
adding that the custody they share with Matthew Mirabal's parents of
Mikaela - Matthew and Natalie Mirabal's 8-month-old child - is something of
a comfort. "She looks just like Natalie did at that age, and she has the
same attitude as well, a real happy baby."
A slew of hearings on trial motions are scheduled to occur before Matthew
Mirabal's June 12 trial date, with the first held Feb. 9 and one scheduled
each month through May.
Mirabal remains behind bars on $750,000 bond.