Prosecutors say money was motive in double murder at MoneyTree store

YAKIMA, Wash. — Prosecutors argued Monday that the deaths of two women at a downtown payday lending store were the direct result of a Selah man’s need for money and his knowledge of how to get it.

In the second week of the double first-degree murder trial of Manuel Enrique Verduzco Jr., a former friend testified that five months before the killings Verduzco asked him for help paying for a pellet stove, saying he was late on payments to replace one that broke in his parents’ home.

Prosecutors say Verduzco went to the MoneyTree store on March 26, 2016, because he had once worked there and knew how to get cash that was stored there.

Karina Morales-Rodriguez, 27, and Marta Martinez, 30, who were opening the store that day, were fatally shot.

But Verduzco’s defense team continued to stress what they told the jury during opening statements — Verduzco never set out to rob the store.

Defense attorney Peter Mazzone said Verduzco didn’t know if the security measures in place had changed in the year since he had worked there. In opening statements last week, they said the killings were the result of Verduzco’s schizophrenia.

“What we do know, on March 26, 2016, when (the manager) went and checked the vault, there was nothing missing,” Mazzone said.

Prosecutors say they intend to bring more witnesses who can testify to Verduzco’s financial struggles.