Man Charged with Murdering his Ex-Girlfriend in Greenfield in 2010

SALINAS, California - Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni announced on February 5 that

43-year-old Noel Aguilera Ledesma of Yuma, Arizona, has been arrested and

charged with the cold-case murder of his ex-girlfriend, Yvette Martinez, in 2010.

On October 10, 2010, a vehicle was discovered burning off of Highway 198 at Priest Valley Road. The

vehicle was registered to 22-year-old Yvette Martinez of Greenfield. Investigators discovered

Martinez’s body inside the trunk of her vehicle. Her death was ruled a homicide.

Initial investigation by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office established that Martinez had

previously been in a dating relationship with Ledesma. While Ledesma was a suspect in the initial

investigation, no arrests were made.

In July 2020, District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni created the Monterey County District Attorney’s

Office Cold Case Task Force, which represents the largest and most comprehensive county-wide effort

to investigate, solve and prosecute cold-case homicides in Monterey County. The Task Force began

investigating this case in 2022 and discovered new evidence which resulted in a judicially approved

warrant for Ledesma’s arrest. The members of the Task Force who worked on this case are ADA Matt

L’Heureux, investigators from the DA Bureau of Investigation, and former Monterey PD Assistant

Chief Bill Clark. District Attorney Investigators arrested Ledesma on February 4, 2025, with the

assistance of the Yuma Police Department.

No further details about the case will be released at this time to preserve the integrity of the investigation

and future court proceedings.

In January 2022, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office Cold Case Task Force received a

$535,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice

Assistance. The grant, titled “FY 2021 Prosecuting Cold Cases Using DNA,” provides funding to

support forensic testing and investigative activities in the prosecution of cold cases where DNA from a

suspect has been identified. Funding from the U.S. Department of Justice grant enabled the Cold Case

Task Force to seek justice in this case.

Anyone with information about the murder of Yvette Martinez is encouraged to contact District

Attorney Investigator Oliver Minnig at (831) 784-5648.

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