News : Photos: “I Forgive You”, Father tells Man Who Raped and Murdered His Daughter and WIfe

Police found the bodies of Yardira, left, and her daughter Karla, right, who had also been raped in the brutal attack before being beaten to death with a claw hammer

 

Mr. Arturo Matinez woke up in his Las Vegas home surrounded by blood, dizzy, weak and seriously wounded. His bedroom wall was covered in blood.

“After I saw this, I checked on my daughter and saw the same exact scene all over again,” he said in a statement.

He found his two young sons unharmed and looking up at him.

Matinez looked around for the attacker and found no one. He tried calling the police, but his fingers were not responding as expected. He was unaware that the attacker had fractured his skull in 17 places and he would later require two major brain surgeries to stay alive.

Before he passed out, he told one of his sons, Cristopher, to go to school and tell them what happened.

The next thing he remembers is that police officers woke him and placed him in handcuffs.

Matinez and his family had been viciously attacked on the 16th of April by a man identified as Bryan Clay, 22, who broke into their home before raping and killing his wife and 10-year-old daughter. Police believe the attack was random.

Three months after the horrific attack, Arturo Martinez at a press conference announced that he has forgiven the man who raped and killed his wife and daughter.

Arturo Martinez and his sons Alejandro (left) and Cristopher (right

 

“Our happy family was destroyed by the evil of this man,

“This terrible crime is just one of many evil things in our world,” he says. “I choose not to give in to this evil. I choose life and happiness for my sons. … We choose to turn our heads away from evil and acknowledge the good things in this world. We choose to be strong and move forward.

“I have to forgive him,

“I forgive you. That’s it, nothing else.”

“It is my prayer that my wife Yardira and my daughter Karla are in heaven waiting for me and my sons, for me to arrive to spend eternity with them.” Martinez said at the press conference he hosted on Thursday, in front of friends, family and local politicians to thank them for their help and announce his forgiveness.

His statement was received with gasps from the shocked audience who found Martinez’s capacity to forgive Bryan Clay remarkable. Throughout the duration of the press conference, Martinez was flanked on both sides by his sons, 5-year-old Alejandro and 9-year-old Cristopher.

Cristopher said he wishes most for his father’s recovery and his family’s future happiness.

“I don’t want him to feel frustrated … not to feel rushed,” Cristopher said. “I want him to be organized and happy.”

Although their father has preached forgiveness, Cristopher said it will be difficult to accept.

“He killed a kid,” he said. “He killed my sister.”

Police arrested Bryan Clay less than two weeks after the incident. They believe he broke into the home between 2 and 4 a.m. and used a claw hammer to bludgeon Martinez, his wife and his daughter.

DNA evidence reportedly linked Clay to the gruesome murders and vicious assault.

When charged to court, the Suspect pleaded not guilty to the crime, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

The Suspect, Bryan Clay, has been charged with murder, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon and sexual assault.