ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Bombshell details were released Friday in the case of 10-year-old Victoria Martens. The girl was mutilated and killed two years ago.
District Attorney Raul Torrez confirmed her mother, Michelle Martens, and her then boyfriend, Fabian Gonzales, weren't at the apartment during the murder.
This is contrary to what Michelle originally told police.
Forensic psychiatrist Michael Welner, who interviewed Michelle Martens, gave an insight into how her brain works differently than most people's brains.
Welner interviewed Martens, along with her family, friends, neighbors and attorney to learn how she ticks.
He concluded she is a very vulnerable woman, who others described as a “people pleaser.”
Welner said that while Martens understood that she was making false statements to police, she did not fully understand that she was incriminating herself.
“She was falsely saying she was there, she was falsely saying she saw things, falsely saying she heard things. She was saying things while believing she was actually placing blame on other people, which she was, but she was also including herself in responsibility,” he said.
Michelle Martens' lawyer said part of it has to do with her having a lower than normal IQ. Welner kept stressing her vulnerability and the context of the questions, saying she was almost easily tricked into what looked like a confession.
“This is a woman, who when she was pregnant with Victoria, she denied the pregnancy until she gave birth. So she has an exceptional amount of denial and a very shallow level of emotion,’ he said.
KOAT also asked Welner if he believes Martens had anything to do with the murder of her daughter.
“In my professional opinion, she didn't have anything to do with the murder of her daughter, the mutilation of her daughter, nothing to do with the disposal of her daughter,” he said.
Original article here.
