Man allegedly caught with severed hand in his pocket denies murdering prostitute found headless in a Colorado creek

A man arrested with a severed hand his pocket claims he is innocent of the murder of a woman he said he had hired as a prostitute, according to Colorado police.

The remains of Renee Portillo were found on Jan. 10 near Fountain Creek in Pueblo.

An arrest affidavit says that Solomon Martinez was arrested after police found a severed hand in a plastic bag in the chest pocket of his jacket. Police said he admitted that he had the severed hand for two days but he denied murdering the woman.

Martinez worked as a security guard at the Pueblo Arts Center.

His roommate, Joshua Mazzurco, told police that Martinez had offered to pay Mazzurco to help him dig a large hole.

“He had walked up to me and he had asked me, you know, ‘You want to absolve $1,000 off your debt? I need a ten-foot hole.’ And he looks at me, goes, ‘I’m not playing around,’” Mazzurco told KRDO-TV.

He went on to say that he refused to help Martinez but that he watched as the man washed blood off of his hands at a car wash.

“I was terrified. I was beyond terrified. Like, I can’t even put into words how physically scared I was,” Mazzurco added.

Martinez allegedly denied that he murdered Portillo but claims that he hired her as a prostitute and then refused to pay her after several hours. He also said that he had lent his car to a homeless man named James and that he is the person who killed Portillo, according to the arrest affidavit.

Portillo's family said that she has three children and numerous grandchildren.

Martinez was charged with first-degree murder and is being held on a $1 million bond.

Here's a local news report about the incident:

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!