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A suspected illegal immigrant who was just recently released on bond from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody was arrested yesterday in the fatal stabbing of his wife.
Maria Gonzalez was stabbed to death on Friday, although her husband, Salvador Garcia-Sanchez, was just arrested yesterday since he remained hospitalized after accidentally stabbing himself during the alleged murder.
According to court documents obtained by New Times, Garcia-Sanchez, 31, dragged his wife across their apartment by her hair, and stabbed her twice in the chest with a butcher knife.
Phoenix police Sergeant Steve Martos tells New Times the stabbing came after an argument Garcia-Sanchez and Gonzalez were having about money.
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Four of the five children were fathered by Garcia-Sanchez, and are between the ages of 6 and 12.
Garcia-Sanchez was pronounced dead a little more than 30 minutes after the stabbing.
According to the court documents, Garcia-Sanchez fell over at some point during the incident, and he was stabbed in the chest as he fell on the knife he was holding, resulting in his hospitalization.
Garcia-Sanchez faces charges of first-degree murder and kidnapping, and was denied bond.
Garcia-Sanchez had been in ICE custody due to illegal-immigration charges, and although authorities state in court documents that Garcia-Sanchez may flee to Mexico if he’s released, it’s not clear if that’s where he emigrated from.
