Torturer’s Ex-Wife Missing Since 1992

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WEATHERFORD, Texas - The man recently convicted of abducting and torturing a Parker County woman has a major mystery in his past -- his ex-wife has been missing for years.

Jeffery Maxwell received three life sentences on Wednesday for brutally beating and sexually torturing his former neighbor, Lois Pearson. Her name was released by the media because after the trial she chose to share her story.

Meanwhile, Javier and Carole Martinez drove in from out of state and sat in court hoping for answers about Javier’s sister, Martha Martinez Maxwell.

Martha married Maxwell in 1981. Six years later she was found beaten and bruised on the side of an Oklahoma highway. Maxwell was charged with the crime but he never faced trial because Martha fled with their young son to her parents’ home in Mexico.

“I think it was difficult for her to be at home with her boy and wanting her boy to have a father. And then letters were coming from Jeff. There were a lot of them,” Carole Martinez said.

“He’s a manipulator. I mean, we've known that for years,” Javier Martinez said. “We tried to convince my sister not to go back.”

Less than a year after the brutal attack, Martha did return to the United States and reunited with Maxwell. But there was no happily ever after. Martha disappeared in 1992.

Although Maxwell told her family that she left him, they believe he killed her.

During the Parker County trial, an investigator asked Maxwell what happened to Martha.

“Did you try to kill your ex-wife? Or, now I'm assuming that's what you're telling me. Is that you?” the investigator asked.

“Not intentionally,” Maxwell responded.

It was not an admission of guilt, but not a denial either. Still, it’s the most information the Martinez’s have about Martha’s fate.

They now empathize with Pearson, the victim Maxwell held captive for 12 days.

“Watching on screen the bruises and the torture, it was very similar to what my sister went through. That rage came back. Listening to that I felt rage again for him,” Javier Martinez said.

Martha’s family may never get a straight answer about what happened to her. But knowing Maxwell will never get out of prison brings them a feeling of justice. And for that they thank Pearson.

“I felt like I was able to watch a hero. This poor woman suffered terribly but I think she told the story Martha never got to tell us,” Carole Martinez said.

Torturer’s Ex-Wife Missing Since 1992: MyFoxDFW.com

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