Charge: St. Paul man set up for robbery, murdered in home by woman soliciting sex

A St. Paul woman was charged with murder Friday in the shooting death of a man she allegedly set up to be robbed in his home, authorities said.

Sabrina Anne Martens, 27, who was arrested on Wednesday, was charged in Ramsey County district court with second-degree murder in the death of Andrew J. Gutzman, 37, of St. Paul. Gutzman was found dead in his home on July 5.

Martens’ next court date is Aug. 22.

According to charging documents:

Police rushed to the 900 block of Hatch Avenue at 7:30 a.m on July 5 after a caller reported a woman covered in blood had said a man was dead or dying. Officers found the woman screaming in an apartment kitchen and motioning toward a bedroom. Gutzman lay inside on the floor in a pool of blood.

Gutzman had no pulse and was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators, who found a bullet casing near the door, said he apparently had been dead for about 12 hours.

The woman in the kitchen, identified as “KW”, said she was Gutzman’s former girlfriend. She said Gutzman had a “huge” methamphetamine problem and that he sold meth and marijuana from his home. She said Gutzman was paranoid after being robbed multiple times for the marijuana he sold. Family confirmed with police that Gutzman was robbed at his home.

The woman said she checked Gutzman’s phone the morning of July 4 and saw he was paying for prostitutes. She was already seeking a place to live away from Gutzman and said she took $150 from his wallet before staying at another man’s home in Anoka.

She told police that she returned to Gutzman’s home on July 5 to find him on the floor, cold to the touch. The woman said their relationship was toxic, but she denied hurting him.

Police had been called to Gutzman’s home more than 25 times this year for domestic disturbances and other matters. Officers eliminated the woman as a suspect after reviewing surveillance video.

Cellphone records show that Gutzman received three calls on July 5 from Martens — the owner of a purple Ford Fusion seen near his home around the time he was murdered.

Additional records suggest that Marten and Gutzman’s phones may have been inside the car as it left Hatch Avenue for Minneapolis on the morning of his death.

Investigators arrested Martens after tying her cellphone number to an ad for sexual services. She told police that investigators knew her line of work and said a handgun she had reported stolen was the third firearm taken from her.

She confirmed that the car seen near Gutzman’s home was hers but said a friend had used it. Martens declined to name that friend and asked for a lawyer.

In a phone call from jail to her brother Wednesday, Martens denied killing anyone. She told him that on the Fourth of July she was “hitting some licks [robbing people]. I was trying to get some money.”

Using a number tattooed on her neck, police unlocked her phone and found a deleted text thread that suggests that Gutzman was a target.

In the messages, Martens described to an unidentified person what was in Gutzman’s home and that he had meth that could be stolen. They coordinated a time to enter his home as he showered.

“We here,” the person texted Martens at 1:35 a.m. July 5. She responded: “Ima walk out when I do yall come in”

No additional arrests have been announced.

An autopsy by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner said Gutzman died from a gunshot wound to the head and neck.

An obituary remembers him as a kind and generous man of God who felt most at home in nature.

His death is the 15th homicide in St. Paul this year. There were 18 by this time last year, according to a Star Tribune database.

Star Tribune staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this article.