Overview
- Marcos Eduardo Iriarte-Valdez, 36, is accused of fatally stabbing 68-year-old Todd Stewart during an attempted residential burglary on Aug. 6 in Martinez.
- Court records show a judge ordered Iriarte-Valdez released on his own recognizance on Aug. 5 after he had been taken into custody for an alleged home-detention violation.
- Investigators used surveillance video, automated license-plate readers and community tips to identify a vehicle seen at the scene and arrested Iriarte-Valdez at his Martinez home the evening after the killing.
- Contra Costa prosecutors charged him with murder plus special-circumstance and weapon-use enhancements that can carry life without parole; he pleaded not guilty and a judge ordered him held without bail with a preliminary hearing set for September.
- The Department of Homeland Security lodged an ICE detainer and publicly called him a 'criminal illegal alien,' a move that has intensified debate over local pretrial decisions and coordination with federal immigration authorities.