Catholic man forgives man who murdered his wife and daughter

Our take: Las Vegas resident Arturo Martinez-Sanchez credits his Roman Catholic faith with giving him the ability to forgive the man who attacked him and then raped and killed his wife and daughter during a home invasion. With his two young sons alongside him, Martinez-Sanchez made a public statement that shocked everyone, declaring that, while he expects justice to be done through the legal system, he no longer harbors any hard feelings toward the suspect who brutalized him. He says his faith has given him a certainty he will see his wife and daughter again.

Citing his Roman Catholic faith, a Las Vegas, Nevada, man nearly beaten to death in a brutal, random home invasion that also killed his beloved wife and ten-year-old daughter, has forgiven his attacker. Just three months after being left for dead after a vicious beating by a hammer wielding criminal, Arturo Martinez-Sanchez, 39, said in a recent news conference at his newly re-opened North Las Vegas boxing gym that his beliefs make it possible to forgive the killer, who perpetrated what local police call one of the most heinous crimes in memory.

Immediately following the vicious attack upon Martinez-Sanchez, the alleged killer, Bryan Clay, 22, turned to wife Yadira Martinez, 38, and daughter Karla, 10, raping both and bludgeoning them to death with the same claw hammer that left the family patriarch semi-comatose and unable to speak. A funeral mass for Yadira and Karla was said by Rev. Alberto Alzate, Parochial Vicar of the family's parish, St. Christopher's Catholic Church, North Las Vegas, Nevada.

"As a Believer in Christ, I know that God forgives all the sins of those who have faith in Him. In this, I am instructed to forgive first. Knowing that God will forgive even murderers if there is true repentance, Bryan Clay will stand in judgment before Him. It is my prayer that my wife Yadira and my daughter Karla are in Heaven waiting for my sons and me to arrive to spend eternity with them. In fact, I know this is true," declared Martinez-Sanchez.

Read more about Arturo Martinez-Sanchez's willingness to forgive on Breaking Christian News.