A Pennsylvania man received a life sentence April 21 in connection to a fatal 2021 stabbing outside a St. James motel, according to documents filed in Missouri’s 25th Judicial Circuit.
Josue Martinez, 22, of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, was sentenced by Judge Sidney Pearson III to a life sentence in the Missouri Department of Correction after pleading guilty to a charge of second-degree murder. Martinez also plead guilty to and first-degree robbery, first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle and two counts of armed criminal action. Pearson ruled the terms of those sentences to be served consecutively, adding up to an additional 65 years in prison.
Court documents state Martinez stabbed Donald Wethy Jr, 36, of St. James, on April 21, 2021. The statements cite the incident was captured on surveillance footage obtained by law enforcement from the Economy Inn in St. James.
Prior to the stabbing, the statements say surveillance footage shows Martinez exiting a motel room wearing a backpack and carrying a knife in his right hand. Martinez next approaches Wethy while Wethy was standing in the Economy Inn’s parking lot next to the open rear passenger door of a car. Martinez then corners Wethy between the open rear passenger door and rear passenger compartment and stabs Wethy twice unprovoked. The statements say Wethy attempted to run away but tripped and was subsequently stabbed approximately 12 more times until he stopped moving.
The surveillance footage shows Martinez searched Wethy’s pockets immediately after the stabbing and took items. Martinez then gets in the driver’s seat and appears to try and locate something in the car. With Martinez was Kimberly Riston, 32, of Banning California.
A short time later, they exit and walk away from the vehicle. The statements allege Martinez and Riston were attempting to steal the vehicle but unable to locate its keys. The statements say a bloody knife was later recovered by officers from the car’s front passenger seat.
The Phelps County Sheriff’s Department reported Martinez and Riston were arrested thanks to the help of the Everbridge emergency mass notification system. A sheriff’s department press release states Martinez and Riston were taken into custody after spotted by a couple near the intersection of Highway 63 and Highway 28 in Maries County. The couple had received an Everbridge emergency alert and watched Martinez while reporting his location to law enforcement. The husband is a Sullivan police officer, and the wife is a Phelps County corrections officer. Both were off duty at the time.
Riston previously plead guilty to second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle and two counts of armed criminal action in connection to Wethy’s stabbing. She was sentences to 18 years in prison for the murder charge with the term to be served consecutive to terms of 10, 5 and 3 years for the other counts.
Agencies cooperating during multijurisdictional manhunt for Martinez included the St. James Police Department, Phelps County Sheriff’s Department, Troop I of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Rolla Police Department and Central Dispatch.
