A man accused in the disappearance of his wife in the Philippines nearly six years ago pleaded guilty to federal charges and was sentenced on Friday to 20 years in prison, prosecutors said.
William Glen Martell Jr., 52, admitted to aggravated assault that resulted in the death of his wife, 37-year-old Rosemary Martell, and to related federal charges including aggravated sexual abuse and interstate transportation with intent to engage in unlawful sexual activity, court records and family members said. Rosemary vanished on Sept. 27, 2019, and her body has not been recovered.
Family members and court filings describe a marriage that began after the couple met online in 2011. Rosemary traveled to Washington state to join Martell and they were married about three years later. The couple later returned to the Philippines and had two daughters, relatives told OregonLive. Concern mounted when a coworker reported Rosemary had not shown up for work for several days, and she was declared missing.
Prosecutors say Martell traveled from the United States to the Philippines in 2019 and assaulted his wife, causing her death. After her disappearance, he flew back to Washington with the couple’s children. According to statements relayed by family members to authorities and to local media, Martell later confessed to a sister that he had strangled Rosemary in the family home, dumped her body in a forest and then returned to the house, woke his children and placed them in the vehicle that had carried their mother.
Martell’s sister, Michelle Thompson, told investigators she was stunned by his admission and initially did not report it until FBI agents contacted her months later. She cooperated with authorities and attempted to obtain a recorded confession from her brother, she said in interviews and court filings.
The indictment filed in May 2023 charged Martell with aggravated sexual abuse, alleging that between November 2018 and February 2019 he transported a person from Oregon to Washington with the intent to engage in sexual activity that would have been a crime under Washington law. In June 2023 a separate charge related to the death of Rosemary was added, alleging he traveled interstate with the intent to harass and intimidate and then assaulted her in the Philippines.
Martell pleaded guilty to the counts against him before a federal court. At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Amy Baggio said the 20-year prison term would not erase the harm done to Rosemary’s family, telling Martell, “You did not just kill her. You erased her.” Rosemary’s brother, Benedicto Aragon III, addressed the court virtually and condemned his former brother-in-law.
Prosecutors and family members said the case provided answers to years of unanswered questions for Rosemary’s relatives but did not resolve the absence of her remains. The investigation involved cooperation between U.S. federal authorities and Philippine officials, and family members said they have sought accountability for alleged abuse during the marriage.
Court records also show prior concerns about Martell’s behavior: relatives say Rosemary had confided to her brother that she was being hurt during arguments but resisted leaving the marriage because she feared the impact on her children. The guilty pleas and sentence followed a multi-year probe that brought interstate and international elements under federal jurisdiction.
With the 20-year sentence imposed, Rosemary’s family said they hoped the conviction would provide some measure of closure while noting that the location of her remains remains unknown and that emotional wounds persist. Authorities have not reported recovering a body in the matter.