Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 6, 1993 TAG: 9303060159
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
JAILED MAN A SUSPECT IN SLAYING
A man caught by police running out of a burglarized Roanoke pharmacy last month is a suspect in the arson-related death of a Denver firefighter.Frank Martinez Jr. is the fourth man charged with murder in connection with the death of firefighter Mark Langvardt.
Langvardt, 39, died from smoke inhalation after being trapped on the second story of a Denver building. He was the first Denver firefighter to be killed in a fire in 40 years.
Investigators said the building had been set on fire to cover up a burglary.
Martinez could be sentenced to life in prison without hope of parole if convicted. Roanoke police said it was unclear Friday afternoon if Martinez had decided to waive his right to fight extradition.
Martinez was arrested in Roanoke on Feb. 28 after police were summoned by an alarm to the Super-X Drug Store on Peters Creek Road Northwest about 3:30 a.m.
Officers found that someone had pried open the door to a building next to the drugstore, beat a hole in the wall and gone into the pharmacy.
The burglar had attempted to break into the area narcotics were kept, without success.
Meanwhile, a city police officer climbed on top of a drink machine to look around the store. The officer saw a man creeping through the aisles. The man spotted the officer and ran out the back door, where he was tackled by another officer and arrested.
A Roanoke detective interviewed the man for several hours. He initially identified himself as Santos Blackrein. Police didn't believe him. The man told police he was addicted to cocaine and then identified himself as Brandon Armijo. Relatives later identified him as Frank Martinez.
Police learned of the murder charge against him via a crime computer. Fugitive-from-justice documents were served on Martinez in Roanoke City Jail.
According to Denver newspapers, police said the four men charged in Langvardt's death were promised $1,000 apiece if they torched the building.
Authorities said computers and other pieces of equipment were missing from the building, which had four fires burning on both floors. Several containers of flammable liquids were also found.
Langvardt died after shelves fell across a door, blocking his escape. He made it to a window and signaled to other firefighters, who were thwarted in their efforts to get to him by bars on the window.