Shooting, Stabbing Victim Sought Help Just Days Before Attack

Noemi Sanchez was worried about her estranged boyfriend's behavior in the days leading up to him allegedly  her in the head.

Sanchez told East Hampton Town Police Detective Jacques Guillois in a sworn statement from the emergency room at Southampton Hospital on Sunday morning that she had filed a police report about harassing messages from Sabas Martinez and had just received an order of protection against him. 

The father of her three children, Martinez, knew the victim for 22 years, since they lived in Mexico. They had an "on and off" relationship, she said. He had not lived with her and the children since he was released from jail in October 2010. His criminal record was witheld from the court.

According to Sanchez, Martinez began sending her several text messages on Feb. 5 asking to move back in. He had been living with his brother Hector Martinez in East Hampton, though there is some indication he had moved out. She said that one message stated that "he will not permit any other man to have me."

His brother Gustavo Martinez reportedly called her on Feb. 7 to tell her she was an unfit mother and that their father wanted custody of their three children.

Two days later, on Wednesday, Sanchez filed a report with town police about his messages to her. She told police she did not want to press charges, but that she wanted him to stay away from her and their children.

All domestic violence reports made with the town police are forwarded to The Retreat, a domestic violence advocacy organization based in East Hampton.

Sanchez said she met with a psychologist and a social worker at the Retreat, and the following day the social worker accompanied her to Family Court in Riverhead. She was granted an order of protection.

On Saturday night, she went to eat at the home of a friend Marco Martinez. She told police there is no relation between him and Sabas Martinez.

Between 12:30 and 1 a.m., she left left for home. When she arrived at her home, a one story house on Squaw Road, she noticed the front door was unlocked, but thought one of her daughters had left it that way.

"I entered my house and the lights were off," she said in her statement. "When I entered my bedroom, I grabbed the remote to turn the lights on and that is when I heard Sabas say to me, 'I told you that you will not get your way and you will not fool me again.'"

She saw a long barrel being pointed at her. Her estranged boyfriend was standing about 8 feet away, she said. 

"I turned around to get out of the room and that is when I heard a bang and I felt that I had been shot and I called out for my daughter ... to call the police because her father had shot me."

The statement she gave to police was interrupted at about 5:50 a.m. when she was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital. She arrived there at about 6:40 a.m., and the interview began again at about 7:15 a.m.

She recounted for police how she had run screaming from her bedroom into her 11 year old's bedroom. Martinez reportedly followed her and the attack continued. She was then hit and stabbed.

"As he was stabbing me he told me that he warned me that I would not get my way," she said.

Their 16 year old daughter came into the room and was begging her father not to kill her mother.

In front of their daughters, he put Sanchez in a headlock and dragged her into the kitchen. The 16 year old "still begged Sabas not to kill me and she told him to kill her instead."

Martinez released his grip on Sanchez, grabbed a knife from the sink and cut his wrists and neck.

"Sabas said no one cared about him so he was going to make himself disappear," Sanchez said.

She dialed 911, but did not talk to an operator. Her daughters also called 911.

When an officer arrived, he drew his gun on Martinez, who was still in the kitchen with the knife. Sanchez ran out of the house.

"I think the kids are heroes in this," said Chief Eddie Ecker. "This could have been a whole lot worse than it is."

According to her statement, there was at least one prior incident of domestic violence. About 10 years ago Martinez allegedly tried to choke her, but her daughter, then 6 years old, got help from Sanchez's friends, who stopped Martinez. She said she had not reported it to police, but it did happen in East Hampton.

Ecker praised the Retreat for their swift action in this case last week. "They do everything they can to get women help."

Jeffrey Friedman, the director at the Retreat, said that he would not comment on specific cases, but said that the situation highlights the need for the Retreat's services.