PORT ANGELES — Charges of second-degree murder against Marcelino Godinez Perez have been dismissed.
Godinez Perez was arrested May 17 on investigation of the stabbing death of Victor Aguilar Godinez. He was formally charged May 21, arraigned May 28, and the charges were officially dismissed July 9.
Deportation
In the court documents, Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Lauer said Godinez Perez will be processed for deportation.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which handles such cases, did not return calls for comment.
Both Godinez Perez and Aguilar Godinez were from Guatemala and spoke a Mayan dialect called Mam. They were not related.
In his motion for dismissal, Lauer said that “the charges originally filed in this matter were and continue to be supported by probable cause.”
But he listed several reasons that the case should not go to trial.
Those reasons are:
• Further investigations haven’t been fruitful.
• No motive has been discovered.
• A murder weapon has not been found.
• None of the witnesses were willing to testify they saw Godinez Perez in an altercation with Aguilar Godinez.
• The investigation was hampered because of the language barriers between investigating officers and Godinez Perez and other witnesses.
The matter was dismissed without prejudice, meaning that the charge could be refiled if more evidence is found.
Fight likely
Forks police said they believe that the stabbing was the result of a fight outside coach No. 16 in the Rain Forest Mobile Home Park, 1205 Forks Ave. S on May 17.
Godinez Perez surrendered himself to Clallam County Sheriff’s Department after officers searched for a few hours for him.
The probable cause statement also said that officers interviewed several witnesses who saw Godinez Perez and Aguilar Godinez in a van together before the victim stumbled out and fell on the ground.
None of the witnesses had seen an altercation.
Two translators were used during hearings via speaker-phone — one who translated English to Spanish and the other who translated Spanish to Mam.
Forks Police Chief Mike Powell has said that, initially, officers were called to the mobile-home park to investigate an unconscious, intoxicated man, and that man was later determined to be the deceased Aguilar Godinez.
Aguilar Godinez’s immigration status was not known.
Aguilar Godinez was stabbed at least one time in the upper left torso. There also appeared to be a small cut on the inside of his right forearm, officers said.
Both Aguilar Godinez and Godinez Perez harvested salal, a shrub that grows in local forests, Powell said.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.
