Prosecutor: Man charged in Wash. triple homicide apparently was angry over girl’s alleged rape

Man charged in Washington state triple homicide

EPHRATA, Wash. — A prosecutor says a 24-year-old man accused of killing three men near the central Washington town of Mattawa apparently was angry at them over what he alleged was a girl’s rape.

Grant County prosecutor Angus Lee on Thursday charged J. Guadalupe Martinez-Lopez with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in Monday night’s shooting deaths. Martinez-Lopez made an initial appearance in Superior Court in Ephrata.

A report released by the sheriff’s office contained no additional details on the rape allegation.

Two of the victims were found in a trailer about two miles from Mattawa when deputies responded to a report of shots fired. One died at the scene, while the other died in an ambulance. The third man was found dead on a road about a mile from the trailer.

Mattawa is about 40 miles east of Yakima, near the Columbia River.

Information from: Yakima Herald-Republic, www.yakima-herald.com