Federal officials are pressing California Governor Gavin Newsom to surrender a Venezuelan national charged with fatally stabbing a 68-year-old retiree outside his own home, one day after a Newsom-appointed judge released the suspect from custody.
Marcos Iriarte-Valdez, 36, faces a murder charge in the killing of Todd Stewart, a retired father who was stabbed in the front yard of his Martinez, California, home in what authorities describe as an attempted burglary gone violent. The Department of Homeland Security has now taken the unusual step of publicly demanding that Newsom turn the suspect over to federal immigration authorities, calling California's sanctuary policies directly responsible for Stewart's death.
The timeline is damning on its own terms. Iriarte-Valdez was already out on pretrial release for residential burglary charges when he was jailed on August 4 for allegedly violating the conditions of his home-detention monitoring. Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Nichelle Holmes, appointed to the bench by Newsom in 2024, released him the very next day, on his own recognizance. Roughly 24 hours later, Stewart was dead.
Surveillance video from the scene, portions of which DHS shared on social media, shows Iriarte-Valdez arriving at Stewart's home in a Cadillac SUV. The footage shows the two men struggling on the sidewalk and, according to the New York Post, captures Iriarte-Valdez continuing to stab Stewart even after the 68-year-old fell to the ground.
Stewart's neighbors described a man who posed no threat to anyone. One friend told reporters: "He was the most mild-mannered person and the most helpful in the court. It's still unbelievable. I look across the street, and I expect him to come out and wave."
Martinez Police Chief Andrew White addressed the community after the arrest:
"I think people can sleep a little bit safer tonight knowing that this person is in custody. Unfortunately, too, there's a family that no longer has a husband, a father."
The charges against Iriarte-Valdez now extend well beyond murder. DHS listed his full slate of charges: inflicting corporal injury on a spouse, three counts of burglary, receiving known stolen property, trespassing, entering a non-commercial dwelling, loitering, and a convicted violation of a court-ordered protective order. Prosecutors have added further enhancements, though the specific enhancements were not detailed.
The federal government did not miss Iriarte-Valdez. Fox News reported that DHS placed an immigration detainer on the suspect on September 23, 2025, months before the fatal stabbing. But California's sanctuary policies blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcement from taking custody.
That detainer sat unanswered while Iriarte-Valdez cycled through the Contra Costa County court system on burglary charges tied to at least two separate incidents. He remained on pretrial release, monitored by home detention, until he allegedly violated those monitoring terms and was briefly jailed, only to be released again by Judge Holmes.
The pattern is one federal authorities have confronted repeatedly in sanctuary jurisdictions. In New York City, ICE leadership has vowed that sanctuary policies will not stop federal enforcement, and the same friction now defines the standoff between DHS and Sacramento.
Iriarte-Valdez was legally admitted to the United States during the George W. Bush administration and has lived in the country since 2007, according to DHS statements relayed through Fox News. He has since been classified as an illegal immigrant, though they do not detail the specific legal basis for that reclassification, whether his status lapsed, was revoked, or was otherwise terminated.
Judge Nichelle Holmes's role in the case has drawn sharp scrutiny. Newsom appointed her to the Contra Costa Superior Court bench in 2024. In a 2017 profile published by her law school alma mater, Holmes described herself as a protester, a biographical detail the New York Post highlighted in its coverage of the case.
Holmes has not publicly commented on her decision to release Iriarte-Valdez. Newsom's office has also not responded publicly to DHS's demand, at least as of the reporting available.
DHS, by contrast, has been vocal. The agency posted on X, addressing Newsom directly:
"This Venezuelan illegal alien STABBED A FATHER TO DEATH in sanctuary California. @CAgovernor must NOT RELEASE this murderer from jail and turn him over to us so we can REMOVE him from our nation."
A second DHS post, accompanied by the surveillance video, went further:
"Another innocent American was killed because of California's reckless sanctuary policies. How many more innocent people have to die before Gavin Newsom and sanctuary politicians stop playing games with the safety of Americans?"
DHS also issued a broader statement tying the case to a systemic problem. "Sanctuary politicians must stop putting politics above public safety," the agency said. "This type of insanity leads to more crimes and more innocent victims."
Iriarte-Valdez's rap sheet was not thin. He faced burglary charges tied to two incidents in Contra Costa County and was on pretrial release for a residential burglary case at the time he was jailed for violating his monitoring conditions. His charges also include spousal abuse and violating a court-ordered protective order, a charge listed as a prior conviction, not merely an accusation.
Despite all of this, he walked out of custody roughly 24 hours before Todd Stewart confronted him in his own front yard. The confrontation ended with Stewart stabbed to death and Iriarte-Valdez allegedly trying to flee the scene.
Federal enforcement agencies have been stepping up efforts to remove criminal illegal immigrants from the country. ICE has recently removed gang members convicted of manslaughter, attempted murder, and sexual assault, and the Department of Justice has pursued denaturalization cases against convicted criminals in what officials have called the largest such effort in U.S. history.
But those federal tools are blunted when state and local officials refuse to cooperate. California's sanctuary framework, which restricts local law enforcement from honoring ICE detainers, meant that the September 2025 detainer on Iriarte-Valdez went unanswered. The suspect stayed in the community. Todd Stewart paid the price.
The case also raises questions about judicial accountability. Holmes made a release decision on a defendant with an active immigration detainer, an existing criminal record that included burglary and domestic violence charges, and a fresh violation of his monitoring conditions. No public explanation has been offered for why she concluded he could safely return to the community.
Across the country, the federal government has moved aggressively to hold criminals with immigration violations accountable. In California, the state's own policies appear to have worked in the opposite direction.
Democratic leaders in other states have faced similar backlash over decisions that prioritize ideological commitments over public safety. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has continued defending his pardon of a convicted child sex offender even after the individual was deported by federal authorities, a pattern of Democratic officials absorbing political damage rather than conceding that their policies failed.
Several critical questions remain unresolved. Newsom has not said whether he will comply with DHS's demand to transfer Iriarte-Valdez to federal custody. The current custodial status of the suspect, whether he sits in county jail, state custody, or some other arrangement, is unclear from available reporting. And the specific legal mechanism by which Iriarte-Valdez lost his lawful immigration status after being admitted during the Bush administration has not been publicly explained.
What is not unclear is the sequence of events. A man with a criminal record, an active immigration detainer, and a fresh custody violation was released by a governor-appointed judge. One day later, a 68-year-old retiree was stabbed to death in his own front yard. DHS had flagged the suspect months earlier. California's sanctuary policies kept federal agents from acting.
Todd Stewart's neighbors remember a quiet, helpful man who waved from across the street. The system that was supposed to protect him waved the suspect right out the door.
