Virginia man charged with murder in suspicious stabbing death
Suspect charged in Virginia murder, victim found in stranger's home
Jose Valesquez-Martinez, 27, was arrested Sunday morning at a hotel in Front Royal, Virginia. He has been charged with murder and malicious wounding in the death of 29-year-old Brandon Probst.
FAUQUIER COUNTY, Va. - A Virginia man is in custody and charged with murder in the death of 29-year-old Brandon Probst.
What we know:
Officials began investigating a "suspicious death" that occurred last week east of Linden, Virginia. Police say a woman returned to her home the evening of March 27 around 9:50 a.m. to find an injured stranger inside with "traumatic lacerations," according to police. That man, identified as 29-year-old Brandon Probst of Stuarts Draft, VA, later died.
READ MORE: Woman finds injured stranger inside home, man pronounced dead at hospital: officials
Jose Velasquez-Martinez, 27, was arrested Sunday morning at a hotel in Front Royal, Virginia. He has been charged with murder and malicious wounding and is in custody at Fauquier County Adult Detention Center.
Court documents say Velasquez-Martinez and Probst were in an altercation, where Velasquez-Martinez used a knife to stab and cut Probst in the neck. The deadly encounter reportedly took place outside a parked vehicle in the driveway of Joette Breeden’s home on John Marshall Parkway. Breeden told investigators she does not know the victim.
Breeden told FOX 5 DC she walked into her home Thursday night and Probst was on her couch bleeding and groaning.
Dig deeper:
FOX 5 DC spoke to Breeden, the woman who found Probst inside her home before calling 911.
"When I entered the house, I could hear what sounded to me like a man crying. And at first I thought I had left the TV on, but then I looked and the TV was off. And the lights were still off and I could see someone on the sofa, so I just turned around and ran back out of the house, jumped in my car and called 911.," said Breeden. "It was very scary."
Breeden says police told her that Probst was not injured in her house, but that he had entered her home to hide or to seek help.
"I'm born and raised in this house. My dad built this house and I've lived here all my life in the same area and nothing happens like this here," said Breeden.
The Source: This story includes information from Fauquier County Police, court documents obtained by FOX 5 DC and reporting from Shomari Stone and Tisha Lewis.