Kidnapper Made Woman Choose Between 'Loving Him' Or Being Killed; Victim Tortured, Abused For Weeks

Police have nabbed a deranged Utah man, who is accused of staging a hostage drama, where he held a woman captive for several weeks in sheer desperation to force her to fall in love with him.

According to a probable cause statement, Ramone Martinez, 39, is facing charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault following alerts he was holding a woman against her will on Tuesday at a house in the Poplar Grove neighborhood, at about 500 South and 1400 West.

A Salt Lake City officer first arrived at the address of concern and found the female victim with several injuries, including serious bruising around her eyes, the Daily Beast reported. The woman was also having difficulties breathing because her ribs were sore.

A concerned individual allegedly informed the cops that the woman managed to text him and asked for help as she feared for her life.

When the officer knocked on the front door, the 39-year-old suspect, armed with a handgun, answered and complied with orders to put his hands up while the cop confiscated his weapon and ultimately handcuffed him, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

According to the victim, Martinez had assaulted and tortured her, noting he had choked her several times to the point of losing consciousness. The assailant would also reportedly hold a knife to her throat, point a gun at her head, and beat her with a belt.

Ultimately, the man allegedly threatened the victim that her family's safety in Mexico would be on the line if she failed to love him during the six-month-ultimatum he had given her to “love him or be killed."

Investigators then learned he carved the number six into her hand to remind the woman that her clock was ticking.

Authorities proceeded to send her to the nearest medical facility for assessment and treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

On Wednesday, Detective Michael Ruff with the Salt Lake City Police Department indicated that what happened to the woman has been deemed domestic violence under Utah law. And in such cases, “we make sure the victim is given all the services we have from our victim advocates and all of our partners,” he said.

At this time, it remains unclear what relationship the woman had with her alleged captor, who is being held in the Salt Lake County Jail.

In an affidavit, the responding officer who rescued the woman wrote that Martinez should be held without bail as he posed a substantial danger to the public, noting that he is likely to flee to California, Arizona, or Oregon, NBC News noted.