The husband and father who woke up in his Las Vegas home to find his wife and daughter beaten to death said Thursday that he took the unfathomable step of forgiving their attacker.

Still bearing the scars of the brutal attack which left him requiring two major brain surgeries

after 17 head fractures, Arturo Martinez appeared at a press conference three months after the random claw hammer attack.



To gasps from the shocked audience, Mr Martinez said that he would even let 22-year-old Bryan Clay, who broke into their home randomly before raping and killing Mr Martinez's wife and 10-year-old daughter, kiss him on the cheek.

An emotional Mr Martinez said 'I forgive you. That's it, nothing else.' 'And if he gave me a kiss, I would give him a kiss.'

The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that Mr Martinez announced his decision in a press conference held in the boxing gym that he and his wife Ignacia, who went by Yardira, opened a year ago.

The gym was closed after the early morning attack on April 16. Mr Martinez does not remember the actual altercation between himself and Clay, but simply remembers waking up around 5am and seeing blood everywhere around his bedroom.

'After I saw this, I checked on my daughter and saw the same exact scene all over again,' he said.

He found his two young sons unharmed, and while attempting to call the police before passing out, he told his sons to go to school and tell the teachers what happened.

The killings caused panic in the neighborhood and surprised friends who knew Yardira, 38, and Arturo: because the couple were both professional fighters, community members were shocked that the assailant was able to defeat them still. 'I've been doing this for 24 years and this is the case you hope you never see,' Las Vegas Metropolitan Police lieutenant Ray Steiber said.

Because Clay was on the run and not found until a week after the attack, police immediately suspected Mr Martinez and put his sons in foster care.

That was the case for three days before they were released into his custody, but since he was in the hospital recuperating for much of the month following the attack, the boys lived with Mr Martinez's sister and brother-in-law.

They now all live with their relatives, as Mr Martinez refuses to return to the home where his wife and daughter were killed, where his world was shattered. During his brief statements, Mr Martinez was flanked on either side by his sons, 5-year-old Alejandro and 9-year-old Cristopher.

Cristopher could be seen stroking his father’s back during the statement and helping him

when he got stuck on a difficult word- both because he was fighting back tears and because he is still recovering from his two brain surgeries.

This terrible crime is just one of many evil things in our world,' Mr Martinez said. 'It is my prayer that my wife Yardira and my daughter Karla are in heaven waiting for me and my sons, for me to arrive to
spend eternity with them.




'When police found Clay, they connected him to a sexual assault against a different 50-year-old woman the week before the killings. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

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