Man Arrested for Attacking Ex After Friends Tease Him Over Corn Maze Date Gone Wrong

In a chilling case from California, an Arizona man strangled his former girlfriend after his friends mocked him for persistently calling and texting her throughout the night, prosecutors reported. The 22-year-old woman had largely ignored his attempts to contact her, effectively ghosting him.

Noel Ledesma, aged 44, was found guilty of first-degree murder for the death of Yvette Martinez in 2010, as detailed in a press release from the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office. Martinez’s lifeless body was discovered in the trunk of her burning vehicle, following the strangling. Ledesma’s attempt to dispose of the car by pushing it into a canyon failed when it got stuck on a berm, according to the DA.

For over 15 years, the murder remained unresolved until February 2025, when investigators linked Ledesma to the crime through an analysis of cellphone data. This data provided undeniable visual evidence that contradicted Ledesma’s claims of being at a family gathering on the night Martinez disappeared after a night out with friends.

The district attorney’s office noted, “The analysis revealed that Ledesma was present at or near Martinez’s residence in Greenfield for several hours before she returned home.” The data further indicated that, during the time Martinez’s phone was used to send deceptive messages to her friends, Ledesma’s phone was in the same area of Salinas. Additionally, the evidence confirmed Ledesma was absent from the family event when Martinez’s car was discovered ablaze.

Prior to her tragic death, Martinez had spent the day socializing with friends and her then-boyfriend. The day included drinking in Salinas, exploring a corn maze with her boyfriend, dining with a friend at a Salinas restaurant, and eventually making her way home.

“Throughout the night, Ledesma was calling and texting Martinez’s cell phone, but she largely ignored his texts and calls,” the DA’s office says, noting how Ledesma “attempted to persuade Martinez to get back together with him” for months, but she refused.

“As the night progressed, Ledesma became angrier that Martinez was not responding to him,” the office says. “He told her that his friends were ridiculing him and laughing at him.”

Ledesma went to Martinez’s home in Greenfield a little after midnight and waited there for hours until she arrived at the residence around 3:11 a.m., according to prosecutors. “Martinez arrived back at her home but did not make it inside,” the DA’s office says. “She was never seen alive again.”

Martinez’s car and body were found the next evening “burning on the side of Highway 198, a few miles from Priest Valley Road,” according to prosecutors. An autopsy determined that she had died of strangulation.

“Her body was so badly burned that she had to be identified by her dental records,” the DA’s office says. “Monterey County Sheriff’s Office detectives suspected Ledesma was the killer due to suspicious behavior he exhibited in the days following her death, his history of domestic violence against other partners, and the content of his text messages with Martinez that night.”

Ledesma was questioned by police in 2010 and claimed he was home the day she disappeared and was at a family party when the car fire was set. His brother “vouched for his alibi,” and investigators were unable to disprove it, the DA’s office notes.

Martinez’s case was examined again in 2024 by the office’s Cold Case Task Force and experts were brought in to analyze the phone data, which led to Ledesma being charged in February 2025 with Martinez’s murder.

A Monterey County jury found Ledesma guilty on Tuesday. He’s due to be sentenced next month on March 12, with prosecutors saying he will receive a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life in prison.