The Salvadorian man who allegedly killed his ex-girlfriend while she was caring for a racehorse at Belmont Park was in the country illegally, federal officials said Monday.
Jose Franco-Martinez, who is accused of knifing to death former flame Maria Larin, 51, early Sunday, didn’t leave the US when his visa lapsed in 2011, according to Rachael Yong Yow, a spokeswoman for the US Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Franco-Martinez, 53, on Monday pleaded not guilty to a second-degree murder charge during a psych-ward arraignment at the Nassau University Medical Center, where Judge Paul Melo ordered him remanded.His Legal Aid lawyer declined comment.
If Franco-Martinez is found guilty in the slaying, he would serve out his sentence in the US before being turned over to the feds for removal from the country, authorities said.
Federal officials confirmed Monday Franco-Martinez is an El Salvador national. He entered the US with his victim and bounced back and forth between here and the Central American nation, according to racing newspaper The Daily Racing Form.
ICE was not aware of any criminal activity by Franco-Martinez before Sunday’s bloodshed, Yang Yow said.
Nassau County police still did not provide a motive for the murder by Monday afternoon.
A rep from the New York State Gaming Commission confirmed that Franco-Martinez was licensed as a stablehand from Aug. 13, 2015, to Aug. 1, 2016.
It was not clear how he gained access the barn where he allegedly stabbed Larin.
But he likely had to pass several security checkpoints, according to Andy Belfiore, executive director of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, which advocates on behalf of horse owners and stable-workers.
“You have to be credentialed by [the New York Racing Association],” she said. “They have security guards at every single gate. They have security guards patrolling the backstretch day and night.”
The NYRA, which operates the racetrack along with Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens and Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, did not respond to requests for comment about security at Belmont.
“The New York Racing Association offers our thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of Maria Larin. We stand alongside the entire Belmont Park community to mourn this tragic loss. We are working with NYTHA, B.E.S.T. and the Racetrack Chaplaincy to provide additional services and counseling to those in need of support. NYRA is fully cooperating with the Nassau County Police Department in its ongoing investigation,” NYRA CEO Chris Kay said in a statement.