Griffith Park body-parts case: ‘Suspicious statements’ led to arrest

A man arrested in the 2012 death of his boyfriend, whose head, hands and feet were scattered below the Hollywood sign, made “inconsistent and suspicious statements” to police after his partner’s body parts were found, court documents showed.

A search warrant affidavit filed in connection with the killing of Hervey Medellin said Medellin’s partner, Gabriel Campos-Martinez, then took a polygraph test, which revealed he was “deceitful of dismembering the victim’s body and having knowledge of the victim’s murder.”

Los Angeles detectives arrested Campos-Martinez, 38, in San Antonio, the LAPD said. He was being held without bond pending extradition proceedings.

It was Campos-Martinez who reported Medellin missing about a week before dog walkers discovered his head wrapped in a plastic bag along a Bronson Canyon trail. A subsequent search with cadaver dogs turned up two feet and a hand wrapped in a Rite Aid bag and buried in a shallow, 6-inch grave. The second hand was found later.

Medellin was identified using the fingerprints from the right hand, according to the court documents.

The documents also revealed that police received an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip on Jan. 16, 2012, stating Medellin had not returned from a trip to Mexico.

“Because of the suspicious nature” of the tip, a detective went to the apartment Medellin shared with Campos-Martinez, the court records read.

Campos-Martinez told the detective Medellin woke up one morning and went to Mexico, leaving his car and cellphone behind, but insisted “there was nothing out of the ordinary,” the documents read. The detective asked Campos-Martinez to go to the LAPD’s Hollywood station and file a missing persons report.

Campos-Martinez returned to the station later in the day “crying uncontrollably” and asked for a copy of the report, the court documents read.

During an interview with detectives three days later, Campos-Martinez made the “inconsistent and suspicious statements,” according to the records.

Campos-Martinez told detectives he shared bank accounts with Medellin, had access to his ATM card and knew his Social Security number.

Detectives looked into Campos-Martinez’s online activity and believed he “may have been researching a vehicle website to possibly make a purchase and housing websites for relocation” as well as “researching the gold and diamond websites to possibly sell such items owned by the victim,” the court records read.

The documents did not state information on a possible motive or location where Medellin was killed. That information remained unclear Monday.

LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said the department’s elite robbery-homicide detectives made the arrest in Texas and were working closely with the district attorney’s office. Detectives were still in Texas on Monday afternoon.

“This was a lengthy investigation and they reached the point where they believe they had evidence beyond reasonable doubt that he committed the murder,” Smith said.

The case generated widespread speculation, including theories Medellin’s death was tied to a Mexican drug cartel or a Canadian model and porn actor suspected in a dismemberment there. Six months after Medellin was identified, a $50,000 reward was offered in the case.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said Monday that the killing “was and is a very difficult case.”

Medellin was a retired Mexicana Airlines employee known for his love of art and hiking. Those who knew him said he sometimes walked his dog in the hills where his body was later found, as the park was not far from his home.

kate.mather@latimes.com

richard.winton@latimes.com