Fourth suspect charged in kidnapping, murder of man found in Dakota County culvert

A fourth person has been charged in the 2021 kidnapping and murder of a man who was beaten and left dead in a Dakota County culvert.

Edgar Martinez-Montez, 36, who has no known address, was charged Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court with one count each of second-degree intentional murder and second-degree unintentional murder.

Ivan Contreras-Sanchez, Arturo Morales-Ceras and Tomasa Martinez are also charged in the case.

The four are accused in the death of Manuel Mandujano, 39, of Minneapolis. According to court documents, Mandujano was labeled a "snitch" and beaten to death in April.

Accused of working with police, Mandujano was kicked by several assailants and a nail was driven into his heel, according to court documents.

According to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office and charging documents: Mandujano's family reported him missing April 4 and that he was last seen March 27. Investigators seized three videos from Contreras-Sanchez that showed Martinez-Montez and other men standing around Mandujano while he was being beaten at a house in the 400 block of 36th Street in Minneapolis.

Mandujano was allegedly placed in plastic and then into the back of a car occupied by Morales-Ceras, Martinez and Contreras-Sanchez. Mandujano died as the men drove south and met up with a second vehicle to find a location to dispose the body, the charges said.

Surveillance video captured the two vehicles and showed Martinez-Montez entering a gas station with another person; one of them bought a beverage later found near Mandujano's body, the complaint said.

Martinez-Montez told police he was involved in the assault and pushed Mandujano's body out of a car before other men pulled it into a ditch, the charges said.