The Murder of Gloria Marmolejo
For this case, I watched an episode of Twisted Love. It’s season 1 episode 3, titled ‘Love is Relative.’
A 54-year-old mother disappears in El Paso, Texas.
Background
Gloria Marmolejo was a mother of two boys, Manny and David. She was very close to both of them, but especially to David. She wanted the best for her sons, and wanted them to be successful in life.
Gloria was described as beautiful inside and out. She had been married to Armando, the father of Manny and David, until about 1985. He didn’t have much of a relationship with them until much later, when they reconnected.
Gloria Marmolejo
An Illicit Bond
In 1997, Gloria’s son David, dropped out of school, and became a father at age 17. He eventually married the mother of his child, and they appeared to be very happy, eventually having four children.
In 2000, David moved his family to Phoenix, where he started working in construction. He also reconnected with his father Armando, who was now remarried. Armando’s new wife had a daughter from a previous relationship, named Mariah. At the time, Mariah was 11-years-old.
The family started to notice that Mariah loved to follow David around. By her teenage years, Mariah really blossomed and matured. This was when David started to pay more attention to her. His wife and his mother were both concerned.
A Damaged Relationship
In 2004, Gloria retired from Texas Workforce, and decided to go back to college at age 50.
At this time, David moved to Hawaii, and met a new woman. Gloria was very angry that David was so willing to ruin his marriage over someone he just met. Things got even worse when this woman became pregnant.
David and his wife officially separated in 2007. She moved back to El Paso with their four kids. David was now living with his new girlfriend and baby. He decided to invite his step-sister Mariah to visit over her summer break.
Gloria had no idea they were still in contact, but found out when she flew to Hawaii, after David got into a motorcycle accident. David’s girlfriend told Gloria that she had caught David and Mariah in an intimate moment. Gloria, a religious woman, was distraught, and probably disgusted.
David constantly denied being involved with Mariah. Gloria seemed to believe him for the time being.
The Disappearance
In the summer of 2009, Gloria decided to go and stay with her son Manny, and his family in Phoenix. She had been having issues with a neighbor, and wanted to feel safe again.
David had returned to El Paso to look after Gloria’s home. About a month into his stay, Mariah reappeared. Witnesses later said that she had moved in with David.
Gloria found out when she had visited, and found female items around the house. She gave David an ultimatum: end things with Mariah or be kicked out of the house.
On July 25, 2009, Manny tried calling Gloria around 5pm. When there was no answer, he called his uncle and Gloria’s brother, Mark Huerta. They then drove to her home to see if they could find her.
By July 28, Gloria’s 55th birthday, her family filed a missing persons report. They told the El Paso police that there was no bank activity on her cards, her phone was going to voicemail, and her car was missing.
A Sad Ending
The first suspect was Gloria’s neighbor. Gloria had told her family that a man had been staring at her from his house, and taking pictures. The man had some mental health issues, and he had been living with his elderly mom at the time. He was eventually ruled out as a suspect.
As the police left the neighbor’s home, a detective named Michael Lara, noticed a red SUV that matched the description of Gloria’s car. He looked at the report about the missing car, and was able to identify it was Gloria’s.
They went to her home to look around. Inside the garage, they found beads from a necklace, and a blood smear on a cabinet inside the garage. The police believed that Gloria may have been injured or killed there, but she was nowhere to be found.
They were about to discover what had actually happened, when her body was found on July 31, 2009. It was found in the desert behind the Santa Theresa Elementary School in New Mexico, about 25-30 miles from El Paso.
Gloria’s death was ruled to be homicide by ligature strangulation. She had a bag over her head when she was found, and her trachea had been crushed. It was a very angry and personal attack.
A Confession
Gloria’s distraught family made a public plea for any information on what might have happened.
A neighbor said that on July 26, she saw Gloria’s red SUV backing out of her garage around 5am. The car was being driven by a woman in her 20’s, who looked afraid. The description was a match to the one of Mariah.
Mariah spoke to the police several times. She appeared unemotional and quiet. The police noticed in the first interview that she had a cut on her hand, which she said she had gotten from work.
When the police asked her about the blood in the garage, she said it was from her. Mariah revealed that David had physically assaulted her.
At first Mariah seemed to be defending David, even saying that they were together on July 25, at the movies. She said he had left for about an hour to help his mom get into her house, but he eventually came back.
Mariah eventually said that David returned after 3 hours. He had been texting her, and told her he was “taking care of something” and “I had to do what I had to do.”
The police asked Mariah what she believed he was talking about. Mariah said that David had told her he had killed his mom, which she didn’t believe at first.
Mariah revealed their relationship became sexual by the time she was 15. She became pregnant, had the baby, and put the baby up for adoption. David told her that he had gotten into a fight with his mom when she returned home. Gloria had discovered that Mariah was in fact living in her home.
The Conviction
After the police spoke to Mariah, it was time to confront David.
They had subpoenaed his phone records. He had made a call around 1:37am, which placed him in proximity to where Gloria’s body was eventually found.
David told the police that he strangled his mom with a belt, and that he
"couldn’t help who he loves.”
Mariah was granted immunity in exchange for her cooperation. In 2011, David Marmolejo was convicted of murder, and sentenced to 54 years in prison. Gloria had been 54 years old at the time of her death, hence the amount of years he was given.
Manny, Gloria’s other son said:
“He took my mom away from me,” “I know somewhere at the bottom of my heart there is still love for him, but I can’t find that right now.
”
David Marmolejo
Other
David was also arrested in 2006, and faced 15 charges of sexual assault from, four counts of armed robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of sexual abuse and four counts of kidnapping.
These incidents had occurred in Phoenix from December 2005 to February 2006. He was never convicted of any of these, and it wasn’t discussed in the episode.
He was extradited to Arizona in 2016 for these crimes.
FINAL THOUGHTS
While I feel bad for Mariah, it doesn’t excuse that she helped and lied about the murder of Gloria. However, I think she was absolutely brainwashed by this monster. David told the media that he loved his mother, but I don’t believe that for one second. His whatever you call it with Mariah was more important that the life of his mother. She had every right to tell him to leave her house when he didn’t do what she asked of him. David deserves life in prison if you ask me.
Sources
https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/archives/2017/07/17/marmolejo-sentenced-54-years-murder/485386001/
https://kfoxtv.com/news/local/el-paso-man-convicted-in-moms-death-faces-multiple-charges-in-phoenix
https://www.abqjournal.com/7636/updated-marmolejo-found-guilty-of-killing-his-mother.html
https://abc13.com/archive/7724068/
https://www.ktsm.com/news/man-convicted-in-moms-death-faces-sexual-assault-charges-in-arizona/
