A 50-year-old man was brutally killed and decapitated at a motel in Dallas, Texas, following an argument over a broken washing machine, police have said. The suspect, Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, 37, has been charged with capital murder.
Police were called to Downtown Suites Dallas on Samuell Blvd at around 9.30am local time on Wednesday, September 10, where they found Cobos-Martinez covered in blood and armed with a machete. The victim's head was discovered in a bin. Dallas Fire-Rescue pronounced Chandra Nagamallaiah dead at the scene.
According to an arrest affidavit, Cobos-Martinez admitted to killing Mr Nagamallaiah with the machete, saying the argument started over a broken washing machine. The affidavit states that Cobos-Martinez was cleaning a room with a co-worker when the victim approached him and told him not to use the broken machine. The suspect became upset that the victim was speaking to the co-worker to translate instead of speaking directly to him.
Video evidence shows Cobos-Martinez exiting the motel room, producing a machete, and repeatedly cutting and stabbing the victim. Witnesses reported that Mr Nagamallaiah tried to escape and ran towards his wife and son in the motel office, but fell. The suspect continued to strike him until he was decapitated. The victim's son attempted to intervene with a bat, but the attack continued. The suspect then kicked the head into the car park before placing it in a dumpster.
When arrested, Cobos-Martinez was still armed with the machete and had the victim's key card and mobile phone. He is a Cuban national with a criminal record in Houston, California, and Florida. He has been placed on an ICE hold at the Dallas County Jail. The motel owners described Mr Nagamallaiah as a good, hardworking person who had managed the hotel for two to three years.
