Was the murder of Sgt. Jan Pawel Pietrzak and his wife Quiana Pietrzak racially motivated?

Prosecutors in San Diego, California, accused four Marines in the racially motivated death of fellow Marine Sgt. Jan Pawel Pietrzak and his wife Quiana Pietrzak.

The four Camp Pendleton Marines, Pvt. Emrys John, 18, Lance Cpl, Tyrone Miller, 20, Pvt. Kesuan Skyes, 21, and Pvt. Kevin Cox, 20, are charged in the death of Pietrzak, who is Caucasian and his wife, Quiana, who is African American.

During a two-day hearing, Riverside County Homicide Investigator Benjamin Ramirez testified that when he arrived at the crime scene last October, the words “N…..Lover” was written on the wall next to the master bedroom and on a bathroom mirror.

Ramirez testified that the couple’s home was ransacked on the night of the murder, and Quiana’s body was found leaning against a couch with red duct tape covering her eyes and gunshot wounds to her head and right side.

He also testified that an orange vibrator that was used to violate Quiana was found between her legs.

Pietrzak, he said, was found leaning against his wife with his face, wrists and ankles bound with red duct tape, and a gunshot wound in his right cheek and blood covering his entire face.

Officials said that Pietrzak worked with John and Miller at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego as helicopter mechanics.

Officials initially thought the murder was robbery related.