Twentynine Palms Marine pleads not guilty to wife’s murder

A Marine assigned to the Corps’ Air and Ground Combat Center in California, known as Twentynine Palms, has been charged with his wife’s murder, according to local police. (Ministry of Defense)

A Marine assigned to the Air and Ground Combat Center in California, known as Twentynine Palms, is facing a manslaughter charge after arriving at a local hospital last weekend with his injured wife, who died late last night, authorities said.

Corporal According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, Carlos Zamudio, 23, was arrested early Sunday morning at High Desert Medical Center in Joshua Tree, where he arrived with his “seriously injured” wife, Savannah Enke, 21. The Marine has been formally charged with aggravated murder with a deadly weapon.

Hospital officials called county deputies when Zamudio, who they said had a head injury, took Enke to the emergency room. Deputies arrived at about 1:35 a.m. When Enke died a short time later, police arrested Zamudio on a charge of murder. He was placed in Morongo prison.

The Sheriff’s Department declined to describe the type of injuries Enke suffered or how Zamudio may have inflicted them on his wife.

Zamudio was arraigned Wednesday in San Bernardino Superior Court in Joshua Tree and pleaded not guilty to the murder charge. He was being held at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. Bail was set at $1,050,000. His next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday.

Zamudio is assigned as a transmission system operator for the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, at Twentynine Palms, according to the Marine Corps. The base is a major desert warfare training site about 140 miles east of Los Angeles.

Lt. Colton Martin, a Marine Corps spokesman at Camp Pendleton, Calif., headquarters of the 1st Marine Division, said military officials are assisting civilian authorities in the investigation.

Martin said Zamudio enlisted in the Marine Corps in California and began boot camp with Marine Corps recruits in San Diego in January 2020. In September 2020, he graduated from the Marine Corps School of Communications and Electronics at Twentynine Palms.

Zamudio deployed to Australia with Marine Corps Rotational Force Darwin in 2022 and Japan under the Unit Deployment Program in 2024. He was promoted to corporal in April 2022 and received the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal.