FORKS — Forks police today arrested a Forks man on investigation of murder in the stabbing which occurred outside a mobile home on Sunday.
The man, Marcelino Godinez Perez, who is in his mid-20s and apparently of Guatemalan descent, is to make a first appearance at Clallam County Superior Court at 1 p.m.
He has not yet been formally charged with the crime.
The victim was identified late on Sunday night as Victor Aguilar Godinez, who was also in his mid-20s.
Forks Police Chief Mike Powell said it appears that the two men knew each other and had a fight, but it was still unclear today exactly what happened.
He said that the initial call was a passed-out intoxicated man lying in the grass of trailer No. 16 at Rain Forest Mobile Home Park, 1205 Forks Ave. S, which is also U.S. Highway 101.
“There was some drinking going on and so some people just thought he had passed out,” Powell said.
“By the time aid workers got there, he had already become cold.”
It was unclear if Aguilar Godinez had any family in the immediate area, Powell said.
Powell said translation was complicating the investigation.
“Several of the witnesses and suspect speak a Guatemalan dialect of Spanish, called Mam,” he said.
“This language barrier has slowed the investigation while detectives seek a qualified translator for the suspect.
“Border Patrol assisted us with Spanish translation last night, but we are trying to get some more information on this particular dialect for now.”
At least six proto-Mayan language dialects are spoken in rural Guatemala in addition to the official Spanish, according to the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies.
The Mam dialect is spoken west of Guatemala City toward the Pacific coast.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.
