(Photo: Matthew Guzman – Miami-Dade Police)

By JEREMY JONES

A Miami man has been arrested for the murders of two men he claims made homosexual advances toward him.

Matthew E. Guzman, 21, is the suspect in the Dec. 16 slaying of Paul Barrow, 46, and the Nov. 18 slaying of 64 year old Harry Ray. Barrow, co-owner of Devonaire Service & Tire, was shot in the head at the auto store located at 12253 SW 112th St. in Kendall. According to reports, a customer found Barrow on the floor. He was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he died.
Police say Guzman lied in wait for Barrow in order to ambush and kill him. The suspect claims that the victim had “homosexual tendencies” and that Barrow had looked at him in an “inappropriate manner.” That claim, however, is disputed by Audree Barrow, the victim’s wife, who is now forced to raise three children on her own.

“Paul was no way in hell anything homosexual. Let’s just clarify that right now,” Barrow told the media. “It’s been extremely difficult. His [Guzman’s] family was not at the bond hearing – we were there but his family was nowhere to be found, so they obviously know he’s pretty sick.”
Ballistic testing from the auto shop led police to the home of the first victim, Ray, a neighbor of Guzman’s, who lives in the 12300 block of 110th S. Canal Street Road.

According to police reports, Guzman entered Ray’s house to use the restroom and then shot the 64 year old with a 9mm semi-automatic hand gun several times in the head and upper torso. Guzman tried to clean fingerprints from the crime scene and remove bullet casings. He told police that he killed Ray because he was a “racist” and that he “made homosexual advances toward him, leaving him no choice but to shoot the victim.” The gun used in both of the murders was found on Guzman Jan.2 when he was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon and burglary.

He’s been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and is being held without bond in the Miami-Dade County Jail.