Habitual Criminal Smoker Indicted for Burglary After Leaving Cigarette Butts at Scene

SAN ANGELO— Clifton Barry Martin Jr, 35, was indicted by a Tom Green County grand jury during the July session for Burglary of a Building.  He was arrested after DNA found on cigarettes found at the scene identified him.  

According to court documents, on June 29, 2021, Tom Green County Sheriff Deputies took a burglary report from the victim who stated that an unknown person broke into his mobile home and stole items from the residence. The mobile home was vacant and being used as storage on Rust Street and the victim reported a television and computer, valued at $3,450, had been stolen.

The report says a suspect entered the residence by breaking in the front window of the mobile home. Two members of the Crime Scene Investigation division processed the residence and located one cigarette butt stuck in the lid of a Chicken Express cup and another cigarette butt in the northeast bedroom. The victim stated that no one he knew smoked that brand of cigarettes and they were not inside the residence prior to the burglary.

The two cigarette butts were sent to the DPS Lab for DNA analysis. The lab found that the DNA profile on both butts came from the same male individual. The investigator received a CODIS letter from the lab that showed the DNA was a match for Clifton Barry Martin Jr.

DNA was obtained from Martin by a search warrant and was submitted to the lab as well. A lab report showed the DNA on both cigarettes matched Martin’s DNA.

The victim said that Martin had delivered an appliance to the mobile home prior to the burglary and showed up drunk. He said Martin never entered the mobile home and had dropped the appliance off outside. The victim never gave Martin permission to enter the mobile home or take property from it.

Martin is currently an inmate at the Tom Green County Jail for various crimes against children and burglary. Martin was arrested on November 29, 2022, for possession of child pornography, where a search warrant was executed on his residence, and was indicted in February 2023 for sexual assault of a child.

Burglary of a building is a state jail felony in Texas and carries a possible punishment of up to two years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000. Martin is due in court on August 29, 2023, for a motion hearing.