Mayetta man charged in stabbing death of woman
A Mayetta resident has been charged with first-degree murder and drug charges following the stabbing death of a Mayetta woman early Saturday on the Prairie Band Potawatomi Reservation, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse said Wilson R. Noriega, 49, was taken into custody on charges of first-degree murder, possession of methamphetamines and possession of drug paraphernalia. The murder charge against Noriega stems from the stabbing death of Leann M. Sanchez, 49, it was reported.
According to Morse, representatives of the sheriff’s office and the Potawatomi Tribal Police Department responded to a report of a stabbing at 18836 M Road at about 12:45 a.m. Saturday as it was called in by one of Noriega’s parents. Officers arrived at the residence, which Morse said was owned by Noriega’s parents, to find Sanchez stabbed to death.
Officers then arrested Noriega at the residence and took him to the Jackson County Detention Center, where he currently remains with bond set at $1 million. The incident remains under investigation by sheriff’s officers and Potawatomi police, it was reported.
Morse said that it was believed that Sanchez and Noriega were both living at the residence where the incident occurred. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation’s offender database, which lists Noriega as a registered violent offender, listed the address as Noriega’s residence as of Nov. 10.
Noriega also has multiple previous criminal charges and convictions in Jackson and Shawnee counties, it was reported. Most recently, he was charged in Jackson County District Court with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia this past August and was released Aug. 14 on bond.
A Kansas Department of Corrections criminal database listed a number of offenses reportedly committed by Noriega over a 30-year period. His first conviction reportedly occurred in May of 1985 on a charge of attempted burglary related to an incident occurring in August of 1983 in Shawnee County.
In August of 1985, he was reportedly convicted on charges of robbery, obstruction of official duty and unlawful possession of firearms and sentenced to imprisonment but was paroled in October 1990 before absconding in May 1991 and resentenced in September 1991 on a Jackson County burglary conviction and other parole violations.
Noriega was reportedly paroled again in August 1994 but returned to prison in February 1995 to finish out his sentence after violating the conditions of his parole. He was paroled again in March 1998 but again absconded and returned to prison in June 1999, released in July of 2002 and paroled again in April 2003.
He reportedly returned to prison after being sentenced in June 2005 on Shawnee County charges of criminal threat and fleeing or attempting to elude police and was paroled in May 2006.
Then, in March of 2011, he was reportedly sentenced on Shawnee County aggravated battery charges, was paroled a year later, returned to prison in April 2012 on a parole violation, released that September and absconded again shortly after that. That particular sentence ended in August of 2013, it was reported.
