A jury found Brandon Martin, 27, guilty of murdering his father, uncle, and an ADT alarm installer in 2015. Photo provided by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.On November 4, a Riverside County jury convicted 27-year-old Corona resident Brandon Willie Martin of the 2015 murders of his disabled father, 64-year-old Michael Martin, his uncle, 56-year-old Ricky Andersen, and 62-year-old Barry Swanson, an ADT alarm installer who was at the Martin family home to install an ADT alarm system because the family feared Martin.
Jurors deliberated for about four hours over two days before returning the guilty verdicts on all seven counts. The jury found Martin guilty of first-degree murder and found the special circumstance of multiple murders to be true, making Martin eligible for the death penalty.
On November 9, the same jurors will begin hearing evidence and testimony in the penalty phase of the trial, and will ultimately decide whether Martin should be sentenced to death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Official say that on September 17, 2015, Martin beat his victims to death with a black wooden baseball bat engraved with his name on it. The bodies of the three men were discovered by Brandon Martin’s cousin, who called 911. Martin’s father and uncle died at the scene, Andersen died two days later.
After the three victims were beaten at the home on Winthrop Drive in Corona, police say Martin stole Swanson’s vehicle. The next day, Corona police spotted the pickup and Martin led them on a pursuit in Corona. At the end of the pursuit, Martin ditched the truck and fled on foot. In his attempt to evade officers, Martin broke into a home where he jumped from a second-story window. Corona police sent a police canine to detain Martin. After fighting with the canine, Martin was arrested.
In 2011, Brandon Martin was the 38th overall Major League Baseball draft pick, selected by the Tampa Bay Rays. He was released by the team in March 2015.
