The body of the wife of the Marine murderer, Esteban Smith, was found at a Sunset Inn hotel in North Carolina before his shooting spree over 1,500 miles away in Texas.
Esteban Smith, the 23-year-old Marine that has been identified as the man who went on a shooting spree in Texas on Sunday, is also believed to be responsible for killing his wife before his rampage over 1,500 miles away, reports the New York Daily News.
Smith was an active duty Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune before he was killed in a shootout with police following a wild driving-and-shooting spree, killing one person and wounding five others, including a Concho County Sheriff Richard Doane. The seemingly random shooting spree lasted for two hours and spanned two counties in Texas.
It was initially reported that the Marine was also connected to the fatal stabbing of a woman at a Sunset Inn in Jacksonville, North Carolina and then later confirmed that the woman was his 21-year-old wife, Rubi Estefania Smith. Before the rampage in Texas began, Smith was already wanted for questioning for her murder.
Three of the wounded were taken to the hospital and later released, but the two others, including the sheriff, remained hospitalized Monday with non-life threatening wounds. Alicia Torres, 41, was found dead in her car in Eola, Texas. Her cousin, Ernest Torres, said he heard about five shots fired outside his house before discovering her body.
“It’s really random,” Torres said. “She was a nice person. She didn’t have any enemies. Why someone would shoot her, we don’t know.”
A motive for the shooting spree is still unknown, and investigators are asking for anyone who has any information to come forward.
“Because there are multiple agencies and crime scenes associated with the case, it will take several weeks for all of the physical evidence to be processed,” Jacksonville Public Safety Director Chief Mike Yaniero said in a statement.
