Woman Pleads Guilty to Role in Case of ‘Blown Up' Body Found July 4 in Hamden

A West Haven woman pleaded guilty to her role in the killing a West Haven man whose body was found "blown up" on the Fourth of July in Hamden. 

The New Haven Register reports 30-year-old Natali Martinez-Sanchez pleaded guilty Thursday in Milford Superior Court to second-degree hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence.

U.S. Attorney Dierdre Daly previously identified Martinez-Sanchez as the girlfriend of the alleged gunman, Christopher Miller.

Authorities said Miller shot his housemate Edward Brooks, 39, and dumped his body in the woods off Wintergreen Avenue in Hamden. Police believe he then tried to blow up the body with a pipe bomb at West Rock State Park. Miller, however, has pleaded not guilty to charges including murder. 

Prosecutors say Martinez-Sanchez destroyed and removed materials at the house where Brooks was killed.

Martinez-Sanchez has also been charged by federal authorities with conspiring to distribute crack cocaine and methamphetamine, conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine.

She was first charged by the state on July 13 with second-degree hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence.

Three others face charges in connection with Brooks' slaying.

Martinez-Sanchez is scheduled to be sentenced April 7.

Martinez-Sanchez is being held on $500,000 bond in federal prison in Rhode Island.
 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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