Naman Shrestha
When a local discovered a couple of bodies inside an abandoned vehicle in Riverside County in August 2006, a sense of fear transcended the entire community, leaving everyone shell-shocked by the gruesome discovery. As Marvin Gabriel and Milton Chavez left work, they decided to spend some time at a bar. This turned out to be an unfortunate decision, as the events that followed led them to their demise. The episode titled ‘A Krazy Killing’ of A&E’s ‘Murder at the Motel’ covers the entire case, from the crime and investigation to the conviction of the perpetrators responsible for the crime. The episode also features interviews with the victims’ loved ones and officials linked to the case, providing more intricate details.
Marvin Gabriel and Milton Chavez’s Post-work Plans Turned Deadly
Marvin Gabriel and Milton Chavez hailed from Guatemala located in Central America. The two were laborers who worked on a day-to-day basis. In the final week of August 2006, they were hired for a job in Riverside County in Southern California. Marvin was 22-years-old, and the latter was 28. While they didn’t earn an exorbitant amount, both men made enough money to fund their lives. On August 28, the duo decided to head to a bar to unwind after a day’s hard work. While there, they might’ve had a drink or two and conversed about life in general, looking forward to working the following morning. However, neither Marvin nor Milton knew it’d be the last night of their lives as the day laborers were found dead the next day.
On the afternoon of August 29, the officers of the Central Homicide Unit of Riverside County Sheriff’s Department were called regarding a Honda Accord left abandoned not far from the Lake Mathews reservoir. When they checked the vehicle, the investigators were shocked to discover the bodies of two men inside it. Upon inspection, they declared the decomposing bodies belonged to Marvin Gabriel and Milton Chavez.
According to the judge, the two men “had panties and other cloth items stuffed in their mouths. Their mouths and noses were covered and taped over. They were hog-tied with cords around their necks to their hands, which were behind their backs and to their ankles.” The authorities extracted all the pieces of evidence from the scene and sent them for further examination. Looking at the state of the bodies of the two day laborers, the authorities classified it as a case of homicide. Medical examiners stated the cause of death of Marvin and Milton as asphyxiation.
A Sex Worker Lured Marvin and Milton to a Trap
After inspecting the crime scene and bodies, the authorities interviewed the victims’ families and friends in order to dig deeper into the case and track down the killer. Despite the killer doing her best to cover her tracks, the investigators were able to connect the dots and get their hands on the primary suspect, Brooke Marie Rottiers. Just over a week after the murders, on September 7, 2006, Brooke was arrested and charged with the killing of Marvin Gabriel and Milton Chavez as she orchestrated the crime on August 28, 2006.
As per reports, the two day laborers went for a few drinks at a Highgrove bar after work. While drinking, they met a sex worker named Brooke and one of her accomplices, Franchune Dyuel Epps. One thing led to another, and Brooke promised the two men sex in exchange for cash. Agreeing to the proposal, they followed her and Epps to the National Inn on South Lincoln Avenue in Corona. Much to Marvin and Milton’s surprise, Brooke used to live there with a small-time drug dealer named Omar Tyree Hutchinson. As soon as they entered the motel room 114, Epps pulled out a gun and aimed it at the two men. Meanwhile, Brooke and Omar began stripping them, robbing them of their money as well as other valuables in their possession.
After that, Brooke reportedly beat Milton down and tied him and Marvin with electrical cords, phone cords, and women’s underwear. She then went on to suffocate them by taping plastic bags over their heads. Not only that, Brooke and the other two of her associates also beat the two construction workers over the head with a blunt instrument. They wrapped the bodies in bed sheets, put them in the trunk of the car, and drove them to the remote area called Gavilan Hills, which is located near Lake Matthews. The car was abandoned beside a dirt road, where the two bodies were discovered the next day.
Brooke Marie Rottiers is Reportedly on Death Row
After nearly four years of getting charged for the gruesome murder of Marvin Gabriel and Milton Chavez, Brooke Marie Rottiers was brought to trial in 2010. Finally, in June of the same year, she was convicted by the jury of two counts of first-degree murder. Besides her, Omar Tyree Hutchinson and Franchune Dyuel Epps were also found guilty of murder and a special circumstance of robbery. During the trial, the defense portrayed Brooke as a victim of sexual abuse as a child and told the jury that she had a long history of drug addiction.
To defend the convict, the defense also used the fact that she was the mother of four children and that her kids would have to grow up without their mother. Despite their best attempts, her crimes outweighed anything that the defense attorney presented to the court. Thus, a few months later, on October 22, 2010, Brooke was recommended the death penalty by the court for luring the two day laborers and killing them. Currently, she is serving her death sentence at Central California Women’s Facility.
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