A Utah medical cannabis mogul who declared himself a millionaire had been arrested after holding a woman against her will for weeks inside his Salt Lake City home. The self-declared “millionaire” has repeatedly tortured the woman and used a knife to carve the number six into her hand. The number allegedly represents the six months the woman had to “love him or be killed.”
Eventually, the woman managed to sneak a text message to her friend, who contacted the cops. According to an affidavit, the victim was begging for help” and decrying “she was scared for her life.”
When police officers arrived at the home where the woman was being held, they met 39-year-old Ramone Martinez at the door, having his hand in his hoodie pocket. One of the responding officers immediately sighted a handgun that Martinez was holding onto and ordered him to put his hands up.
Martinez complied with the officers as they searched the home and ultimately discovered a woman with “heavy bruising around both eyes,” according to the affidavit. The woman also told officers that her ribs were hurting badly, she could not breathe very well, and “that she was threatened to be killed and was assaulted for several weeks.”
“The woman was unable to leave or go anywhere freely for several weeks,” the affidavit says.
Martinez at one point held a knife to the woman’s throat and, in another instance, pointed a gun to her head, the victim told investigators. She has been assaulted six times by Martinez on the day prior to police coming to her rescue. The victim said Martinez had choked her on at least two occasions to the point that she lost consciousness. Martinez choked the woman at one time by using his hands and another time by pressing his foot into her neck.
According to the booking affidavit obtained by KSL, Martinez, at one point, grabbed a knife and carved the number 6 in the victim’s hand, telling her that she had 6 months to love him or be killed.
Sometimes, Martinez would allegedly beat the woman with a belt, causing injuries to her face, KTVX reported. In addition, Martinez reportedly threatened to go to Mexico and chop off the victim’s brother and mother’s heads.
Booked into Salt Lake County Jail last week, Martinez is charged with five felony counts of aggravated assault, one felony count of aggravated kidnapping, and one misdemeanor count of assault.
Martinez is currently held without bail at the arresting officer’s request because he allegedly told authorities that “he is a millionaire, giving him access to flights and other means of travel which would enable him to flee,” according to the affidavit. Martinez also bragged about possessing “many firearms” and “having access to a large amount of money to gain access to more firearms anytime he wants to.”
Martinez has businesses in California, Oregon, and Arizona, the affidavit notes. Investigators said Martinez also owns a second home in Arizona, where he had planned to transport the victim before officers intervened.
