Accused Killer Held Without Bail; New Details Emerge

The East Boston teen accused of killing a family friend because the older man was molesting him, videotaped the gruesome aftermath of the killing.

Marco Tulio Flores, 17, of East Boston is accused of duct taping the face and wrists of 27-year-old Jaime Galdamez, allegedly strangling him to death with a chain, and dousing him with charcoal lighter fluid, stealing a television and electronics from the man’s house before returning and setting his remains on fire in the basement of a fully-occupied residential building on Saratoga Street. At the prosecutors’ request, Clerk Magistrate Gary D. Wilson ordered Flores held without bail at his arraignment on Monday.

After killing Galdamez, it was revealed in court that Flores allegedly held a video camera on himself as he stood next to the victim’s dead body and said it “felt good” to end the life of Galdamez.

Flores later told homicide detectives that he killed Galdamez because Galdamez had sexually molested him for years.  Flores was arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court following his indictment on charges of first-degree murder and arson of a dwelling.

Assistant District Attorney Ian Polumbaum of District Attorney Daniel Conley’s Homicide Unit told Wilson that Boston firefighters responded to 877 Saratoga St. for a house fire on the morning of May 23 and found Galdamez dead in his basement apartment.

“In addition to being badly burned, the victim had been bound with duct tape,” Polumbaum said.

An investigation by the Boston Police Department, Boston Fire Department, and Suffolk County D.A.’s office revealed that Galdamez’ remains had been set on fire after his death. Chemical analysis of items at the scene indicated that a container of Kingsford charcoal lighter fluid had been used as an accelerant.

Early the next morning on May 24 Flores walked into the District 7 Boston Police station and made statements that he was responsible for both Galdamez’ death and the fire at his building. Flores also allegedly admitted taking a flat-screen television, two computers, and other items after he killed Galdamez.

A few hours after the homicide and thefts Polumbaum said Flores returned to Saratoga Street, reached in through a window he’d left unlocked, and ignited the fire. Two families with six children lived in the building and were at home at the time.

After waiving his Miranda rights Flores allegedly told homicide detectives that he used a dog chain to strangle Galdamez as punishment for the past sexual abuse and to prevent him from molesting anyone else.  Prosecutors said Flores had never reported those allegations to law enforcement or anyone else adding that evidence showed Flores had planned the murder “over days and possibly weeks.”

“This was not a situation in which something just came over him and he snapped,” Polumbaum told the court.

Apparently Flores kept a video diary of his preparations to kill Galdamez. In one chilling entry, Flores bemoans the fact that the plan to kill Galdamez would have to be put on hold because the victim had suddenly gone on a trip.

Sources have said that Flores may have snapped after seeing a photograph of Galdamez standing next to a friend of Flores. This discovery by the Eastie teen may have caused him to kill in an attempt to protect his friend from the alleged abuse he had suffered.