EL DORADO, Kan. — A man accused of killing a Kansas college student who led a secret life as an Internet porn model testified Friday he went on the run because he figured authorities would blame him for her death.
Israel Mireles, 26, is charged with capital murder, rape and aggravated sodomy in the death of Emily Sander. The disappearance of the 18-year-old Butler Community College got national attention after it was revealed she was also known as the Internet model Zoey Zane.
Prosecutors have said a night of underage drinking ended with Sander’s brutal slaying. Witnesses testified Sander left a southeast Kansas bar with Mireles the night of Nov. 23, 2007. Her battered, nude body was found six days later about 50 miles (80 kilometers) away.
His attorney has said another man came into the motel room and became violent after a drug deal that went sour.
Mireles testified Friday he and Sander went to the motel, had sex and drank beer. He said he got into a fight with the other man over the drugs and left the motel.
When Mireles returned, he said he saw Sander’s body, gathered his belongings and her body then fled. He said he wanted to get to his family and his pregnant girlfriend, Victoria Martens. He said he didn’t know why he didn’t call police.
“I was scared,” he said. “I figured the first person they’d blame would be me.”
He also said he didn’t know why he wrapped her body in a blanket and put it in the car. On his way to see his girlfriend in Baxter Springs, Mireles dumped Sander’s body near the side of the road.
Mireles and Martens then drove to Texas and on to Mexico.
Authorities later found Sander’s blood on a knife and clothes in a trash bin at Marten’s grandmother’s house in Baxter Springs.
Mireles was arrested December 2007 in Mexico. Prosecutors had to promise Mexican authorities they would not seek the death penalty before they would approve his extradition. If convicted of capital murder, he faces life in prison without parole.
On Friday, Kansas Attorney General Steve Six tried to cast doubt on Mireles, questioning why would he take Sander’s body with him, then dump the body and bring the knife to Baxter Springs.
At one point, Six incredulously asked Mireles: “Does that make any sense to you?”
Mireles replied, “None of this makes any sense to me.”