Before sunrise in Spokane, Washington, a frantic emergency call transformed an ordinary neighborhood into the scene of a brutal homicide.

The caller, Haley, struggled to explain what had happened while dispatchers heard panic, confusion, and signs of catastrophic injuries.

Inside the house, twenty-five-year-old Anthony Bryan lay naked on a bedroom floor, losing blood from numerous stab wounds.

Officers entering the residence quickly realized they were facing far more than an argument that had suddenly turned violent.

A second man, nineteen-year-old Edward “Eddie” Martinez, had already fled, leaving police with an urgent search underway.

Haley identified Martinez as her boyfriend and Anthony as her estranged husband, immediately revealing an unusually complicated domestic arrangement.

She told officers the three had been together inside the bedroom shortly before Martinez suddenly began stabbing Anthony repeatedly.

The first priority was keeping Anthony alive, while officers simultaneously gathered enough information to locate the missing suspected attacker.

Paramedics found him barely responsive, with multiple wounds across his torso, back, chest, abdomen, chin, and right arm.

Emergency crews applied numerous chest seals while preparing Anthony for immediate transport, reflecting the extraordinary severity of his injuries.

The violence had unfolded rapidly, yet the circumstances surrounding it were anything but simple or immediately understandable to investigators.

Haley explained that she had met Martinez online only weeks before traveling to California and bringing him back home.

According to her account, Martinez had been living in Spokane for roughly two months before the deadly confrontation occurred.

Anthony also lived there, despite Haley describing him as her ex-husband while their divorce had not yet become final.

That living arrangement placed three emotionally connected adults under one roof, creating tensions investigators needed to understand carefully.

Early questions focused on whether the men had argued before the attack, or whether jealousy had been steadily building.

Haley initially described the relationship between Martinez and Anthony as generally peaceful, without previous serious confrontations between them.

She said the group had been drinking that night and later became involved in a consensual sexual encounter together.

According to Haley, Martinez appeared unable to participate sexually, possibly because of intoxication, before his behavior abruptly changed.

She recalled believing he might feel intimidated, but nothing in those moments prepared her for the attack that followed.

Martinez later provided detectives with his own version, offering more detail about the hours preceding Anthony’s death that morning.

He said the group had been drinking gin, consuming marijuana concentrates, listening to music, and spending time together casually.

At one point, they used a Ouija board and discussed summoning a demon, an episode Martinez later described vividly.

The occult discussion became memorable because Martinez connected it to an already unstable emotional state and growing internal unease.

However, investigators still had to separate dramatic atmosphere from the specific evidence explaining why Martinez chose lethal violence.

After midnight, Martinez said Haley initiated sexual activity while Anthony remained nearby, eventually drawing all three into the encounter.

His account suggested that he initially accepted the situation, although discomfort and resentment began intensifying as the encounter continued.

Martinez told detectives that Anthony’s physical involvement made him increasingly uncomfortable, especially while Martinez himself remained sexually unresponsive.

He described feeling a deep anger building, presenting the emotion as something accumulating rather than appearing without warning.

That description became significant because the case ultimately hinged on whether the killing reflected spontaneous rage or deliberate premeditation.

Martinez said he entered a dark bathroom and began thinking about finding a knife, marking an important mental transition.

He then left the bedroom area and retrieved a small folding knife kept near the living room fireplace.

According to his statement, he concealed the weapon while returning naked to the bedroom, deliberately preventing others from noticing it.

That detail gave investigators powerful evidence that the attack involved planning rather than an instantaneous reaction during physical confrontation.

Martinez said he repositioned himself on the bed and encouraged Anthony to turn, leaving Anthony’s back facing him.

He also described using a phone light as a distraction before launching the attack, further suggesting purposeful preparation beforehand.

These admissions sharply complicated any argument that Martinez had simply lost control during a brief, unexpected emotional explosion.

Haley’s account similarly described Anthony being attacked from behind while the encounter was underway and everyone remained largely vulnerable.

She initially thought Martinez might be punching Anthony, then realized a knife was being driven repeatedly into his body.

Anthony tried to escape around the room while Martinez continued pursuing and stabbing him, according to Haley’s statement afterward.

She remembered Anthony pleading for Martinez to stop and saying they could talk, but the violence continued despite those pleas.

The number and distribution of Anthony’s wounds later demonstrated just how prolonged and ferocious the assault had become.

Authorities ultimately documented twenty separate stab wounds, including fourteen to his chest and abdomen and five to his back.

A final wound appeared on Anthony’s right arm, while other injuries reflected the chaotic struggle throughout the bedroom area.

The folding utility knife was recovered at the house, stained with Anthony’s blood across its blade and handle.

Investigators therefore had the suspected weapon, the surviving witness, Martinez’s own statements, and extensive physical evidence from the scene.

Despite the severity of Anthony’s condition, paramedics transported him because he still showed signs of life when leaving the residence.

For Haley, watching emergency crews work created an agonizing period of uncertainty about whether Anthony could possibly survive his injuries.

She repeatedly expressed guilt, telling officers she believed she had failed to protect him when the attack erupted suddenly.

An officer attempted to reassure her, explaining that emergency personnel would not have transported Anthony had death already been confirmed.

Meanwhile, police searched the neighborhood because Martinez remained missing and could potentially present a danger to other people nearby.

Officers checked vehicles, deployed a tracking dog, and used a drone while building a clearer description of Martinez’s clothing.

Haley told police he was unfamiliar with Spokane, had few local contacts, and knew only a limited number of places.

That information initially suggested he might not travel far, yet search teams still had no immediate sign of him.

The breakthrough came when Sacramento dispatchers contacted Spokane after Martinez called relatives in California using a stranger’s telephone.

He reportedly told family members he was running for his life, creating a striking contrast with the evidence police possessed.

His family supplied a location near Wesley Avenue, allowing Spokane officers to narrow their search and quickly find him.

Martinez was arrested without incident, ending the immediate manhunt and shifting attention toward reconstructing exactly what had happened inside.

At the police station, Martinez was placed in an interview room where his emotional state appeared unsettled and deeply conflicted.

Detectives informed him the room recorded audio and video, then explained his constitutional rights before attempting formal questioning.

Martinez initially requested an attorney, which should have ended substantive questioning unless he later chose to reinitiate communication himself.

The interview changed after detectives told him Anthony had died and that Martinez faced a first-degree murder accusation.

Martinez then reversed course, saying he no longer wanted a lawyer and acknowledging responsibility for what he had done.

Detectives again advised him of his rights before continuing, creating a record that his renewed participation was being treated voluntarily.

From that point, Martinez spoke extensively about his relationship with Haley, his resentment toward Anthony, and his deteriorating mindset.

He described meeting Haley through a dating application and feeling an immediate connection during a period of personal distrust.

Martinez said he eventually abandoned much of his previous social life and relocated to Spokane to continue their relationship.

He knew Haley remained legally married to Anthony, though she had presented the marriage as effectively finished and emotionally over.

Living together initially seemed workable, Martinez said, but private messages between Haley and Anthony increasingly disturbed and angered him.

Those complaints revealed jealousy existed before the fatal night, even though Martinez denied any prior physical fights with Anthony.

The interview also showed Martinez repeatedly searching for explanations that might make his own behavior feel more understandable afterward.

He described psychological shifts, intrusive thoughts, and a feeling that another part of himself sometimes took control mentally.

Those statements were disturbing, but they did not automatically establish any medical diagnosis or eliminate criminal responsibility for the killing.

Investigators instead focused on observable actions: thinking about violence, obtaining a knife, hiding it, repositioning Anthony, then attacking repeatedly.

That sequence gave prosecutors a concrete narrative of planning that did not depend upon interpreting Martinez’s broader psychological claims.

Martinez himself eventually acknowledged that thoughts of the attack began before he entered the bathroom and retrieved the weapon.

During questioning, detectives challenged inconsistencies in his timeline, particularly regarding when he first formed the intention to stab Anthony.

Martinez conceded that the premeditation started earlier than portions of his initial account had suggested during the interrogation.

That admission became especially damaging because first-degree murder required prosecutors to establish deliberate intent rather than merely reckless violence.

Martinez also characterized his concealment of the knife as sneaky and acknowledged feeling troubled by how calculated it appeared.

He said he had hidden the knife between his body while naked, ensuring neither Anthony nor Haley noticed it.

He then described arranging the situation so Anthony’s back was exposed, placing him in a particularly vulnerable position.

Those were not the details of someone describing a completely accidental confrontation or purely defensive reaction during immediate danger.

Martinez later attempted to justify the attack differently while alone, suggesting Anthony had been sexually violating or exploiting Haley.

Yet his own earlier statements under questioning had described the encounter as consensual and focused heavily on jealousy and discomfort.

Haley likewise told officers that the sexual encounter had been planned among the three participants before the violence began.

That contradiction mattered because later self-justification could not easily erase the admissions Martinez had already provided to investigators.

His comments alone in the interrogation room revealed a young man oscillating between remorse, rationalization, fear, and future planning.

At moments, Martinez recognized that he had killed someone and openly acknowledged having blood on his hands because of it.

At other moments, he searched for narratives that would make the stabbing seem morally understandable despite conceding it was wrong.

He even reflected that he could have fought Anthony physically instead, recognizing that deadly force had been an unnecessary escalation.

Those remarks offered a revealing view into his thinking but did not change the physical evidence or documented sequence.

Another emotional dimension emerged when Martinez told detectives he believed Haley was pregnant with his child at the time.

He worried aloud about fatherhood, prison, and whether his relationship with Haley could survive the consequences of the killing.

The possibility of becoming a father intensified his distress, although it remained separate from the central question of criminal guilt.

For Anthony’s relatives, however, attention centered less on Martinez’s future and more on the circumstances allowing the tragedy to happen.

Some family members publicly blamed Haley, arguing that the complicated relationship had created conditions surrounding Anthony’s eventual death.

Their anger reflected grief and suspicion, but investigators distinguished emotional accusations from evidence proving criminal participation by another person.

Martinez himself told detectives Haley was not involved in planning the killing and had refused to help him afterward.

According to both accounts, Martinez pressured Haley to leave with him after the attack, but she remained with Anthony instead.

Haley called emergency services, attempted to assist Anthony, identified Martinez, and supplied information that helped police locate him quickly.

Those actions became important when evaluating accusations that she had somehow participated in the homicide or facilitated his escape.

The prosecution therefore centered on Martinez, whose own admissions aligned with major elements of Haley’s account and physical evidence.

Anthony’s autopsy documented the devastating extent of his injuries and reinforced prosecutors’ argument that the attack was intentionally lethal.

Fourteen wounds penetrated the chest and abdomen, while five more struck the back and another injured his right arm.

The pattern supported Haley’s description of repeated stabbing as Anthony moved, pleaded, and attempted to escape within the bedroom.

Martinez was formally charged with first-degree premeditated murder after investigators completed initial searches and collected additional biological evidence.

His age made the case especially striking: nineteen years old, facing decades of incarceration for killing a twenty-five-year-old acquaintance.

The case eventually proceeded to trial in April 2023, nearly three years after the fatal morning in Spokane.

Jurors heard a case built around Martinez’s admissions, witness testimony, forensic evidence, and the detailed chronology preceding Anthony’s death.

They found Martinez guilty, accepting the prosecution’s position that the killing constituted premeditated first-degree murder under Washington law.

He received a twenty-seven-year prison sentence, ensuring the consequences he feared during interrogation would shape much of adulthood.

The punishment also reflected a legal judgment that his conduct involved far more than drunken confusion or spontaneous jealousy alone.

Years after the killing, Martinez continued challenging the outcome through the appellate process rather than accepting the conviction as final.

He filed an appeal in February 2025, seeking relief from the conviction and sentence imposed following his trial.

The Washington Court of Appeals ultimately upheld both the conviction and sentence, leaving the twenty-seven-year term in place.

That appellate outcome reinforced the original verdict and preserved the prosecution’s interpretation of the evidence as proving deliberate murder.

Behind every unusual detail lies a simpler truth: one person made deliberate choices, another died, and families endured permanent loss.

The case survives beyond its shocking imagery because the recorded evidence captures how quickly rationalization can follow an irreversible act.

It also demonstrates why courts examine behavior more closely than dramatic explanations offered after a defendant understands the consequences.

For Anthony Bryan, those legal conclusions arrived years later, while the fatal consequences of Martinez’s decisions were immediate.

The final verdict closed the criminal trial, but it could never restore the life taken before sunrise in Spokane.