Jose Franco Martinez, 58, of El Monte, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the murder of his ex-girlfriend at his ex-girlfriend’s workplace, the Nassau County District Attorney announced Wednesday, June 28.
Nearly five years after the incident, a jury found Franco-Martinez guilty.
Maria Larin served as a hot walker at Belmont Park, walking the horses to cool them down after the race.
On June 17, 2018, she was at work when Franco Martinez approached and brutally attacked her, stabbing her 23 times with a kitchen knife.
Although Larin’s co-workers, who witnessed the incident, picked up a shovel and smashed it on the head of Franco-Martinez, he escaped.
New York Racing Association staff arrested the killer after a brief chase, and the killer threw the knife into a nearby bush.
Franco-Martinez also previously worked as a hot walker at Belmont Park and was furious that Larin had reportedly ended their romantic relationship, according to the district attorney’s office.
He was working in Kansas just days before the murder and paid an acquaintance to drive him from there to New York so he could murder Larin the next day.
Franco Martinez was convicted of second-degree murder on April 4.
He was sentenced to the maximum sentence expected at the time of conviction.
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