The former lead investigator in the Cooper family murder case that authorities call one of Lubbock’s most brutal and violent murders opens up about how the case impacted him the last 13 years.
Rey Martinez said despite being retired from the police force, he’s been searching for answers ever since 2004. And when other crimes took his attention away, he always came back to the Cooper family.
“I think about those children. I think about the mom too. Those boys would have been 22 years old. Mahogany would have been 24,” said Rey Martinez. “They would have graduated years ago, they would have gone on with their lives, I wonder about that.”
Thirteen years later, Rey Martinez is still haunted from the Cooper family murder. “Over the years, I’ve described it as walking into a nightmare,” Martinez said.
The person of interest in the case is an unknown man called “Butch.” One of Tammy’s friends tipped police in this direction after a phone call the night of the murder.
“She said it wasn’t a knock, it was a banging. The victim never called for help. She never said ‘help me, call 911.’ That would lead me to believe it was somebody she knew,” said Martinez.
Martinez has since retired from the police department but he’s still involved with the case.
“I’m glad it’s still an active case. I know they’re going to come up with something that will give closure to this family,” said Martinez.
