22-year-old sentenced to 27 years in prison for 2020 Spokane murder

Christopher Walker shares the same birthday as his older brother, Anthony Brines.

But joy has vanished from those days ever since Brines was stabbed 20 times in a threesome-gone-wrong murder nearly three years ago in northeast Spokane.

After several impact statements’ Friday, Spokane County Superior Court Judge John Cooney sentenced Brines’ killer, 22-year-old Edward Martinez, to 27 years in prison.

“The fact you could stab somebody 20 times is really kind of beyond comprehension,” Cooney said.

Jurors in April found Martinez, who was 19 at the time of the killing, guilty of first-degree murder in the death of the 25-year-old Brines.

Martinez was living with his girlfriend and her husband, Brines, at 903 E. Princeton Ave., seemingly without any issues until the early morning of Aug. 13. The three had been drinking alcohol and playing with a Ouija board when they agreed to have sex in the master bedroom, according to attorneys during the trial.

Spokane County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michael Jolstead said Friday the case was about choices and whether the attack was premeditated, which the evidence and jury determined it was.

“This was a planned and thought-through activity,” Jolstead said.

Martinez’s attorney, Chris Bugbee, said the stabbing was not planned.

“He had no idea this episode was going to occur that night,” Bugbee said.

Martinez, who was from Sacramento, met Brines’ wife on a dating app, according to court records.

Martinez knew he was moving into the home with Brines, but thought he was her ex-husband, Jolstead told jurors in April. Brines loved his wife, and because he did, he tried to befriend Martinez and to help him out, Jolstead said. By his accounts, “they were friends.” But Brines wanted to reconcile with his wife, too.

The night of the killing, the three were drinking and smoking marijuana when they decided to play with the Ouija board in the master bedroom at about 3:30 a.m.

Things then turned sexual before Martinez left the room, returned and stabbed Brines, including in the back, torso and face, documents say.

Martinez tried to get the wife to run away with him. She instead called police, who found Martinez in a nearby alleyway. He was cooperative and admitted to the killing.

“I started feeling a deeper anger inside of me, just building, building,” Martinez told police.

He said he started thinking about getting a knife and “doing this” while sitting in the bedroom.

“The premeditation started right there in the room,” he told police.

Martinez said he stabbed Brines several times in the back, then pushed him onto the floor “because he wouldn’t quit moving,” according to documents. He said he then “finished the job.”

According to Bugbee, Martinez was under intense emotional pressure from his two sexual partners. Their escapade that night was what broke him, he told jurors.

Bugbee suggested that Brines’ wife began a relationship with Martinez to get back at her husband, and that nobody was actually happy with the situation, despite the friendly appearances.

Brines “went along with the program so he could get his wife back,” Bugbee said.

On Friday, Walker said he felt like a “complete failure” because he didn’t protect his brother.

“Anthony wasn’t just my big brother. He was my best friend, my motorcycle-riding brother, my hero and my ride or die,” Walker said.

He said Martinez not only killed Brines, but he killed “an entire village,” referencing his family and loved ones.

Sarah McConahy Ziemer, Brines’ aunt, said Brines took Martinez into Brines’ home and treated him with grace, but Martinez chose to “literally stab him in the back.”

“Anthony’s blood will always be on your hands,” Ziemer said.

Brines’ loved ones asked Cooney to impose the maximum sentence allowed.

Eric Peterson, Brines’ stepdad, described Brines as intelligent and kind and said his family will miss his enthusiasm, smile and laugh.

“Eddie, you robbed the world of Anthony,” Peterson said.

Martinez, wearing a yellow Spokane County Jail jumpsuit, stood next to his attorney and said he took full responsibility for his actions, which he said were cowardly.

“To this day, I still can’t tell you what came over me,” Martinez said.

He said he hoped the family finds peace and he will use his time in prison to better himself.

Jolstead asked for the high end of the standard sentencing range, which was 20 to about 27 years in prison, plus a two-year deadly weapon enhancement. Bugbee asked Cooney to impose an “appropriate” sentence that delivered justice but also considered the young age of the “first-time offender.”

“There is hope for this young man,” Bugbee said of his client.

Cooney ultimately sentenced Martinez to 25 years in prison, plus the two-year enhancement. Martinez will serve three years of community custody when he is released from prison.