Mexican police have arrested a man and a woman for the murder of a lesbian couple whose dismembered body parts were found in plastic bags by the side of a road, leaving their three children orphaned.

The victims, who have been named as Nohemi Medina Martinez and Julissa, also written as Yulitzsa, Ramirez, were found dead inside black rubbish bags by the side of the road in the settlement of San Isidro in the municipality of Juarez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua on 16th January.

The couple, both 28, got married on 20th July 2021. They had three young children, two girls and a boy, who are now orphaned.

The names and ages of the children have not been released to protect their privacy, and it was not revealed if they were adopted or if they were either woman’s biological children.

The authorities found the couple’s dismembered bodies by the side of the road, and their relatives had to be called in to identify the butchered remains of their loved ones.

The Chihuahua State Attorney General’s Office opened an investigation into the brutal killings and announced this week that they have arrested two suspects, named as Jaqueline Isela C.R., 25, and David R., 24.

According to the local authorities, the victims knew the suspects and they had their differences in the past.

The suspects invited the couple to a home in San Isidro, where they were allegedly murdered and dismembered before their body parts were dumped on the street.

Chihuahua State Attorney General’s Office spokesperson Enrique Rodriguez said the suspects are being held in preventive detention until their next hearing on 28th January.

The authorities declined to give a possible motive for the crime, but stated that it was not a “hate crime” related to the victims’ sexual orientation.