Arrest Made In Martinez Murder Friday; Suspect On Pre-Trial Release For Orinda Burglaries
Heavily armed special weapons officers descended on an Ashwood Drive condo this evening and arrested a suspect in Thursday’s brutal murder of a 68-year-old Martinez man on Francis Court.
The silver Cadillac SUV spotted outside the murder scene was also located and towed away for processing..
Todd Stewart, 68, was confronted by a man wearing a tactical weapons vest and gloves as he worked in his garage, the suspect attacking Stewart and stabbing him repeatedly as Stewart called for help. After the attack, the suspect drove away in a silver colored Cadillac SUV – which was reportedly recovered during tonight’s arrest.
The scene of the attack is a mere 8 minute drive from where the suspect was taken into custody tonight. Chief Andrew White released the following subsequent to Friday’s arrest:
Following the initial report of the stabbing homicide on Francis Court, the Martinez Police Department worked to identify and locate the suspect. With the help of the community and other agencies, a license plate was identified and the vehicle was located in the 1600 block of Ashwood Drive in Martinez. Officers began surveillance of the suspect and vehicle while detectives conducted additional investigation.
The suspect was identified as Marcos Iriarte-Valdez, 36, who lives in the 1600 block of Ashwood Drive. A review of court records showed:
• Valdez was on pre-trial release for residential burglaries (with persons present) that occurred on April 29, 2026 in Orinda.
• On August 4, 2026, Valdez was taken into custody for allegedly violating a home detention monitoring rule.
• On August 5, 2026, Valdez was ordered released on his own-recognizance and referred to home detention monitoring.
Based on information gathered, detectives obtained an arrest warrant from the Contra Costa County Superior Court for Valdez for murder and committing a felony while on own-recognizance release. They also obtained a search warrant for Valdez’s home and vehicle.
On August 7, 2026, around 6:23pm, the warrants were executed by the Central County SWAT team and the suspect was taken into custody. The suspect is being booked into jail with a bail set at $1.1 million.
The investigation is ongoing and our understanding of the incident may change as more individuals are interviewed and evidence is collected and analyzed.
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So he kills a man while he’s out of jail awaiting trial for burglarizing homes in Orinda? Where people were present?
I was thinking the same exact thing! A lot of crime is done by other criminals who have just ‘been released’. When are we going to get smart about this?
At least he’s in custody. If only he hadn’t been released. Motive?
So, the judge who released Valdez in turn condemned Mr Stewart to death. Great. Will he be publicly identified? Will he be taken off the bench? Or something?
Is this how you believe the judicial system works?
We elect the people who let Suspect Iriarte-Valdez out on “bail”, it’s the DA, Judges and you the voting public.
And now a man is dead.
It won’t be me, I carry a gun, always.
Firestone 11R
Oh, own recognizance, no bail because he is poor, the poor get to commit crimes.
West Hollywood 91R
He’s driving a Cadillac SUV and living in the nicer part of Martinez. I doubt he’s poor.
Who knows how he’s financing either, maybe with stolen items.
Malibu 108RS
A lot of criminals are not poor. The really rich criminals don’t have to worry about bail at all. I think you just spilled a prejudice against criminals on a diet of rice and beans versus, you know, golden arches cheeseburgers and diet coke.
Thanks for the alerts….. good job police.
Glad they got him. Now we need to know why it happened.
So he enters an open? garage and ends up stabbing the owner when he confronts him? Or something else?
It’s a special circumstances case now. Hopefully this guy will get the punishment he deserves. A serial burglar who killed when he was given a second chance.
So he was robbing homes in Orinda Downs and nobody bothered to tell us.
Way to keep the public safe
FTC
And he’s not the only one, YHHH.
We do a spit take every time a public official mentions the word “transparency.”
#RESCIND ENCRYPTION