LAS CRUCES, N.M. — District Court Judge Douglas Driggers sentenced Taylor James Enriquez to 19 1/2 years, July 6, 2018, the maximum sentence after he pleaded guilty, April 10, 2018, to charges of second-degree murder, false imprisonment and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm. Driggers’ sentence was the maximum under the plea deal.
Enriquez stabbed Alberto Nunez in the neck with a broken bottle, killing him, on Feb. 26, 2017, according to court documents.
Taylor Enriquez
He also attacked Manuel Lopez Polanco, who had injuries to his face. The attack on Lopez Polanco was the basis of the aggravated battery charge.
According to the plea agreement, signed by prosecutor Rebecca Duffin, Enriquez was going to face a maximum sentence of 19 1/2 years in prison and that the sentences for each crime would run consecutively, or one after another. His defense attorney, James Baiamonte, agreed that he would argue for a minimum sentence of 15 years followed by five years of supervised probation while prosecutors would argue for 19 1/2 years.
On July 9, 2018, Driggers sentenced Enriquez to the maximum allowed, 19 1/2 years. Although second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 15 years, Enriquez was also sentenced to the maximum sentences on the charges of false imprisonment and aggravated battery.
Allister Quintana Charges: First-degree murder, kidnapping resulting in death and conspiracy to commit kidnapping Status: Plea to second-degree murder, sentencing pending Relationship to victim: Cousin Federal magistrate case number: 18-mj-01776 Federal district case number: 18-cr-03989 Defense attorney:Ray Twohig
Andrew Bettelyoun Charges: Murder, conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping Status: Plea to conspiracy to commit kidnapping; sentencing pending Relationship to victim: Cousin Federal magistrate case number: 18-mj-03427 Federal district case number: 19-cr-00216
Summary
Allegedly angry about not being bailed out of jail by his cousin, Allister Danzig Quintana, 25, allegedly beat, tortured and bound Travis Howland, 28, on Feb. 2, 2018, at his Dulce home, with the help of Andrew Bettelyoun, 24. On Feb. 14, 2018, Howland’s body was found in the closet of Quintana’s house while Quintana was in jail on a domestic case, according to court records.
Quintana was not arrested until May 24, 2018, federal agents arrested Quintana and charged him with murder and on Oct. 22, 2018, Bettelyoun was charged with murder. Quintana was subsequently indicted on first-degree murder. On Jan. 30, 2019, Bettelyoun pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Quintana was then indicted on kidnapping and conspiracy charges. On Jan. 22, 2020, Quintana pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, according to court records.
Problems allegedly started between Allister Quintana, 25, and cousin Travis Howland, 28, in late January 2018 after Quintana gave Howland his bank card and asked him to bail him out of jail, Howland’s girlfriend, who is also the mother his child, told investigators, according to an affidavit for a criminal complaint written by FBI Agent Lance Roundy for Andrew Bettelyoun‘s arrest. Howland’s girlfriend is only identified in court documents as “A.C.”
Howland did not bail out Quintana. On Feb. 2, 2018, A.C. dropped off Howland in Dulce with a friend after they spent the morning together in Pagosa Springs, Colo. Howland met with Bettelyoun, Quintana and Sharol Cachucha and they all went back to Pagosa Springs so Quintana could withdraw money to bail out another friend. He was unable to and contacted B.C., a man, who gave Bettelyoun and Quintana a ride to Dulce while A.C. and Cachucha stayed in Pagosa Springs for the night, Roundy wrote.
At 11 p.m. that night, A.C. did a video chat with Howland. At 11:26, Howland tried to video chat with AC, but was not able to. A.C. tried to contact Howland multiple times over the next few days, but wasn’t able to get through. It was the last time she talked to him, Roundy wrote.
The killing
Warning: the following series of events, taken from court documents, are disturbing.
The night of Feb. 2, 2018, Quintana, Bettelyoun and Howland were at Quintana’s house with “several friends and family members” when, after drinking, Quintana allegedly attacked Howland, Prosecutor Joseph Spindle wrote in a motion for an upward departure for Quintana’s sentence.
Dulce, New Mexico. Jicarilla Apache Nation sign. Photo by Bob Nichols/USDA/Flickr.
At first, Quintana allegedly punched Howland in the face, and Bettelyoun joined in the attack before both men grabbed a 14-inch flashlight and a lighter and Quintana beat Howland with the flashlight and burned him with the lighter, Spindle wrote, citing the private presentence report.
“Bleeding profusely, Doe was forced into the bathroom to avoid staining the living room. Defendant and Bettelyoun followed Doe into the bathroom and began a new phase of the eventual murder,” he wrote.
Quintana allegedly ordered Howland to undress, and then ordered him to place the metal flashlight into his own rectum, he wrote.
“Humiliated, Doe complied,” Spindle wrote.
Quintana allegedly picked up the flashlight with a towel and continued beating Howland, then told Bettelyoun to get an extension cord, which he used to tie Howland’s hands behind is back. Once he was bound, Quintana allegedly used a machete to “chop” Howland’s back. Because Howland was bleeding, Quintana told Bettelyoun to put wrapping paper on the floor of a closet, then moved Howland into it, he wrote.
“Doe begged for his life,” Spindle wrote. “Defendant and Bettelyoun left Doe in a closet where he eventually perished.”
When FBI agents searched Quintana’s house, they seized a machete and a sword, both of which appeared to have dried blood on them, as well as the black flashlight, Roundy wrote.
According to an affidavit for a search warrant for Quintana’s house written by Roundy, investigators found a stool in a back bedroom that appeared to be in the process of being remodeled, and there was a “significant” amount of what appeared to be blood splattered on the floor surrounding the stool, as well as dried blood spattered on the walls.
“Near the bedroom and on the floor was a large trail of what appeared to be dried blood that was smeared and led to the hallway and near the closet where John Doe’s body was discovered,” Roundy wrote.
They also found what appeared to be two improvised weapons made out of broomsticks. They also found a knife with blood on it, and a hammer, in Quintana’s bedroom, Roundy wrote.
Jicarilla Apache Nation Ishkoteen Judicial Complex, Dulce, NM. Photo by Bob Nichols/USDA/Flickr.
“The items had the appearance of broken broom sticks with one end of each stick having cloth wrapped in silver duct tape with a dried red substance similar to that of blood,” Roundy wrote.
Bettelyoun allegedly talked to investigators on multiple occasions and initially denied any involvement in the case, Roundy wrote in the affidavit for a criminal complaint.
When Bettelyoun was interviewed on July 12, 2018, he allegedly admitted to drinking with Quintana and Howland but claimed he passed out and woke up a short time later to Quintana arguing with Howland and punching him, Roundy wrote.
“Quintana requested help from BETTELYOUN, who admitted to participating in the assault by punching John Doe in the face approximately four times,” Roundy wrote.
He told investigators he watched Quintana beat Howland with the flashlight and Quintana demand Howland insert the flashlight into his rectum, he wrote.
“BETTELYOUN stated that he heard John Doe beg Quintana not to kill him on several occasions during the assault,” Roundy wrote.
After allegedly helping bind Howland’s hands and feet and moving him to the hall closet, naked and bleeding, Bettelyoun left the house. He returned a few days later. When he did, there was a foul odor coming from the closet, Roundy wrote.
According to a deputy field investigation from the Office of the Medical Investigator, Brian Cachucha discovered Howland’s body on Feb. 14, 2018. Howland had been in jail since Feb. 8 on an unrelated domestic violence charge.
Field Investigator Lynne Gudes wrote that Brian Cachucha went to check on the house because he knew Howland was in jail and he noted that the back bedroom window was either open or broken and one of the doors was unlocked. He was worried about the pipes freezing and planned on sealing the open window.
“When Cachucha entered he smelled a strong odor,” Gudes wrote.
He opened the closet door and found Howland.
The thermostat was on its highest setting, but the house was not retaining heat because of the windows covered with plywood and other “makeshift patching material.”
Howland had superficial blunt and sharp injuries to the head, torso, arms and legs, skull fractures, a stab wound on his buttocks, a rib fracture, slash on his foot and at least one “gaping” slash wound on his back.
Howland was already in a state of decomposition when he was found, which complicated determining his cause of death. However, none of the injures identified by the pathologist were enough to have killed him, according to the autopsy report.
According to the report:
“However, multiple possibilities as a mechanism of death remain possible. Although the necklace around his neck was not tightly bound, nor were there significant internal neck injuries, Mr. Howland was found prone with bound extremities, and an asphyxial component to death cannot be ruled out. Furthermore, it remains possible that Mr. Howland was alive at the time he was left in the closet. Dehydration and/or starvation remain potential mechanisms of death. Vitreous (eye fluid) and blood could not be collected for laboratory testing due to decomposition.”
Social media posts
A.C., Howland’s girlfriend, provided FBI agents screenshots of an Instagram conversation made by the account “danzigcrowley,” which belonged to Quintana, according to Roundy’s affidavit for a criminal complaint for Bettelyoun.
12:02 a.m., Feb. 3, 2018
danzigcrowley: Every thing happened
Other poster: What do you mean by that?
danzigcrowley: Like ppl drinking n arguing n dumb shit
Other poster: Are you drunk?
danzigcrowley: I wish I’m kicking some ass
Other poster: Why?
danzigcrowley: Cuz thought I had family but now I know I’m by mysef…N lost u n mad at the world n tryan Change just been through a lot
Other poster: Just calm down please..sigh, you’re not fully alone…Have fun an be safe I can’t talk at the moment now…
danzigcrowley: But y?? N same here about to kill someone
Other poster: Why? An I hate myself n
danzigcrowley: Have to do some bat man shit
Other poster: To who?
danzigcrowley: Don’t worry about it be shit all over the house (racial epithet) scard
10:31 a.m., Feb. 3, 2018
danzigcrowley: bro
dakidoncloud9: whats up mane
danzigcrowley: I was about to kill someone last night
dakidoncloud9: What the fuck who my (racial epithet)
danzigcrowley: My brother haha
dakidoncloud9: Which one ?
danzigcrowley: Travis shit was crazy
A “close associate,” J.V., identified “danzigcrowley” as Quintana’s Instagram account, that he would not let anyone else use or access his account and that she believed he was drunk, at the time he wrote the posts, based on the verbiage and her previous experience messaging with him, Roundy wrote.
She said that a short time prior, Quintana allegedly attacked her and choked her. Quintana was in jail when Howland’s body was discovered.
Following a search of Quintana’s phone, agents found text messages between himself and someone identified as “Mairo” on Feb. 3, 2018.
10:17 a.m., Mairo: About you coming to Santa Fe? Good.
10:18 a.m., Quintana: Umm doing some batman shit I’ll go next week if you don’t mind.”
Simmering resentment
According to witness H.H., Howland and Quintana had fought in the past because Howland was having a sexual relationship with Quintana’s biological mother, Roundy wrote in his affidavit for a criminal complaint for Bettelyoun.
“H.H. said that she knew Quintana to be violent, more so when he was intoxicated or on drugs,” Roundy wrote.
Other confessions
According to Roundy’s search warrant affidavit, one witness, B.C., told investigators that he “was associated” with Quintana and, when he went to his house sometime between Feb. 3 and 5, 2018, he was denied entry, which he described as “abnormal.”
“B.C. also stated that he had an in-person conversation with QUINTANA on or about February 13, 2018 in which QUINTANA stated that he did something wrong and needed to clean up his house,” Roundy wrote. “QUINTANA said that once he bonded out of jail, he was going to clean up the mess at his house and leave the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation.”
On April 26, 2018, investigators interviewed one of the people who had been in jail with Quintana during the second week of February, before Howland’s body was discovered. The man, identified as M.M., said he had three conversations with Quintana, Roundy wrote in his affidavit for a criminal complaint for Bettelyoun.
M.M. told investigators that during the first conversation, Quintana allegedly approached him and said he was planning on moving to Santa Fe to go to school and he needed someone to look after his house and asked if M.M. would help clean up his house, he wrote.
“During the second conversation Quintana told M.M. he was in “deep shit” and that only certain people knew about it,” Roundy wrote.
In the third conversation, M.M. alleged Quintana asked him to clean something up from his house when they were both released.
“Quintana made the comment that he needed to get something out of his house before it started to stink and that if he did not get it out before it began to stink it would then result in a manslaughter charge,” Roundy wrote.
Another person in jail with Quintana was J.M., who told investigators that on Feb. 12, 2018, Quintana allegedly approached him.
“During the conversation, Quintana told him that he and BETTELYOUN tortured and killed someone and bound the body in a closet,” Roundy wrote. “Quintana acted nervous while talking with J.M. and said that he was concerned because he left the heat on in the house which Quintana believed would cause the body to decompose quicker.”
The searches
According to court records, the FBI initially searched Quintana’s house after Howland’s body was discovered on Feb. 14, 2018, and shortly thereafter searched his phone.
On July 2, 2018, the FBI went back to the house and conducted another search and this time, seized a machete with dried blood, a sword with dried blood, a black metal flashlight, a hammer, a second sword in a sheath, two clumps of suspected dark hair, one wooden stick and took 99 photos.
Arrests, indictments and pleas
The following account of the arrests, pleas and indictments is in chronological order. They are addressed below.
Oct. 22, 2018: The FBI files a criminal complaint charging Andrew Bettelyoun with murder, conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping. He is arrested in Nevada and transferred to New Mexico.
Feb. 13, 2019: A second grand jury indicts Quintana on two new charges in a superseding indictment. In all, the new indictment charges him with first-degree murder, kidnapping resulting in death and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
May 1, 2019: Bettelyoun is supposed to be sentenced at 10 a.m., but according to online court records and the federal Bureau of Prisons, it appears he was never sentenced. No future sentencing hearings have been set.
Although Howland’s bound and tortured body was discovered in Quintana’s house on Feb. 14, 2018, it wasn’t until May 24, 2018, that FBI Agent Rachael Hickox filed a criminal complaint charging Quintana with murder and he was arrested the same day or the next day, according to the court docket. Hickox’s complaint listed the time frame for Howland’s death as Feb. 2 to 8, 2018.
After pleading not guilty and waiving time limits for presentation to the grand jury, his case was repeatedly continued.
On Oct. 22, 2018, Roundy filed a criminal complaint charging Bettelyoun with murder, conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping. Bettelyoun was arrested in Nevada and transferred to New Mexico. A search for him shows no other federal cases in Nevada.
After Bettelyoun waived a preliminary hearings and grand jury presentment multiple times, on Jan. 30, 2019, he pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging him with conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
According to the plea deal, accepted by federal Magistrate Judge Jerry Ritterand offered by Spindle, Bettelyoun admitted to hitting Howland, providing weapons and “binding material” to Quintana, helping transport Howland from one room to another and that they relied on each other to assault, subdue, bind, confine and transport Howland “to secure the mutual goal of the conspiracy.”
The maximum sentence is life and prosecutors made no binding agreements. Instead, because he pleaded guilty, Bettelyoun will receive a reduction of two levels under the sentencing guidelines.
However, the sentencing guidelines are not binding on the judge and both the prosecution and defense can argue for harsher, or more lenient, sentences.
Quintana’s superseding indictment
On Feb. 13, 2019, just under two weeks after Bettelyoun pleaded guilty to conspiring with Quintana, a second grand jury indicted Quintana on a new set of charges, in a superseding indictment. Those charges were:
First-degree murder
Kidnapping resulting in death
Conspiracy to commit kidnapping
According to the indictment, there were a series of overt acts and that “others known and unknown” attacked Howland, punched him, brought a flashlight and machete to Quintana and other actions ascribed to Bettelyoun in other court documents.
According to the plea deal, there was no agreement as to sentence, other than Quintana being eligible for a two-level reduction in his sentencing guidelines.
However, both sides are free to argue for a higher or lower sentence than what is calculated under the guidelines. Spindle also agreed to not being any further charges against Quintana.
Sentencing
Pending sentencing hearings
On May 1, 2019, Bettelyoun was supposed to be sentenced at 10 a.m. in Albuquerque, but according to online court records and the federal Bureau of Prisons, it appears he was never sentenced. No future sentencing hearings have been set.
Quintana is currently set to be sentenced at 2 p.m., June 22 in Albuquerque in the Cimarron courtroom in front of Chief District Judge William Johnson.
According to a motion reschedule the sentencing hearing by Quintana’s attorney, Ray Twohig, he has hired a forensic psychologist to help him and sentencing should be done in person. However, the coronavirus pandemic has curtailed in-person hearings and, by June, it is possible that hearings can be held in person again.
Sentencing has been set, and then pushed off, nine times before. Sentencing is now set for June 25, 2021.
Quintana’s actions were “unusually heinous, cruel, brutal and degrading to the victim,” and should result in a six-level increase in his sentencing guidelines, putting him at a level of 43, Spindle wrote.
Federal sentencing guidelines table, levels 33 to 43.
Although Spindle did not write what Quintana’s sentence guideline number was, if it took a full six points to get to 43, the highest number, which carries a suggested sentence of life, his number could have been 37. With no criminal history points, the sentencing guidelines suggest a sentence of 17 to 22 years. With the maximum number of criminal history points, and a guideline of 37, the sentence is 30 years to life.
“Coupled with a criminal history category of I, Defendant’s adjusted guidelines range would be imprisonment for life,” he wrote.
Spindle wrote that Quintana’s alleged torture of Howland encompassed three phases.
“He beat him with a flashlight, burned him with a lighter, cut him with a machete, and bound him with a cord,” he wrote. “Doe suffered three types of trauma, blunt, sharp, and compressional.”
Quintana forced Quintana to sodomize himself with a flashlight and tortured him in three separate rooms before leaving him bound in a closet “where he may have painfully surrounded to starvation, asphyxiation, or dehydration,” he wrote.
Quintana also victimized one of Howland’s sisters because she saw his body when responding as a medic, although she did not initially recognize him, Spindle wrote.
Quintana also has an “abysmal” criminal history that warranted a higher sentence, he wrote.
“In less than ten years, Defendant has been charged nine times,” Spindle wrote. “While none of his previous conduct was even close to the brutality involved in this case, several times his convictions were for violent crimes. At least five of the crimes appeared to victimize women, and at least one involved confinement of the victim in his home.”
In his presentence report and the calculation of his offense level, he did not receive points for his criminal history, Spindle wrote.
Quintana wanted Howland to suffer before he did by inflicting pain, humiliation and subjecting his sister to the sight of his decomposing body, Spindle wrote.
He wrote:
“A sentence within the guidelines would not adequately reflect the seriousness of this type of sadistic behavior and would signal to the community that a brutal torture is no different from an isolated shooting. But there is a difference ― a huge difference. Doe’s death was not quick and painless. He died after being beaten, tied up, and sodomized.”
Sentencing “anomaly”
Quintana’s current sentencing guideline appears to place him in the sentencing range of 17 to 22 years, based on a presumed sentencing guideline number of 37 based on court filings.
Bettyloun faces a sentence range of 30 years to life, Spindle wrote.
Quintana being positioned to receive a lower sentence creates a sentencing “anomaly” between them, he wrote.
Spindle wrote:
“By all accounts, Defendant’s conduct was far more egregious than his codefendant, Mr. Bettelyoun’s conduct. However, based upon the application of a cross reference in Mr. Bettelyoun’s case, his applicable guidelines range is imprisonment for 360 months to life. This is a glaring disparity between the codefendants considering that Defendant and Mr. Bettelyoun have similar criminal histories.”
According to a motion reschedule the sentencing hearing by Quintana’s attorney, Ray Twohig, he has hired a forensic psychologist to help him and sentencing should be done in person. However, the coronavirus pandemic has curtailed in-person hearings and, by June, it is possible that hearings can be held in person again.
“He was a guitar player, a graffiti artist, someone who loved metal music and a father,” Martinez wrote.
Howland was goofy, liked to crack jokes and grew up with his sisters in and out of foster care, she wrote.
Martinez wrote that Bettelyoun is the nephew of the Jicarilla Apache Nation’s Juvenile Officer, Letita Julian, who is married to detective Aaron Julian.
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Charges:Second-degree murder, unlawful taking of a vehicle, tampering with evidence, DWI, driving on a license revoked for DWI and open container of alcohol in a vehicle
Status: Pleaded down to voluntary manslaughter, unlawful taking of a vehicle and DWI third offense
Sentence: 4 years followed by 3.5 years supervised release, per plea agreement; credit for 1.5 years time served
On Dec. 16, 2017, Kimsey Barboan, 33, beat his roommate, Anthony Martinez, 61, to death with a baseball bat at their Cuba home. He then drove to a gas station in Cuba where he was reported as lying in a truck with a head wound. He was sent to the hospital, and then arrested, for drunk driving and felon in possession of a firearm. Officers found a bloody bat in the truck.
On Dec. 18, 2017, two of Martinez’s friends went to his house on County Road 13 and found he was lying, dead, inside the house. The next day, State Police agents charged Barboan with an open count of murder.
On Feb. 1, 2018, a Sandoval County grand jury indicted Barboan on a series of charges, including second-degree murder.
On June 17, 2019, Barboan pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, unlawful taking of a vehicle and DWI third offense. As part of his plea deal, his sentence was set at 4 years followed by 3.5 years of supervised probation.
The incident
On Dec. 16, 2017, Kimsey Barboan beat his roommate, Anthony Martinez, 61, to death with a baseball bat.
He was only arrested charged with Martinez’s death three days later, while he was already in custody on charges related to drunk driving and the illegal possession of a firearm, State Police Agent Marcus Lopez wrote in an affidavit for an arrest warrant.
Lopez wrote that he interviewed Barboan, along with Agent Tony DeTavis, on Dec. 18, 2017.
Kimsey Barboan
“Mr. Barboan advised he had been chopping wood at the residence, 334 County Rd 13 (sic),” Lopez wrote. “Mr. Barboan advised he currently lives there with Anthony Martinez.”
Barboan told the agents that at 5 p.m. on Dec. 16, 2017, he went into the house and Martinez “jumped him and struck him with a wooden baseball bat,” Lopez wrote.
“He sustained injuries to the left side of his head and face,” Lopez wrote. “Mr. Barboan advised he got the baseball bat away from Mr. Martinez and began to strike Mr. Martinez with the baseball bat. He advised he did see blood on the facial area of Mr. Martinez.”
He told the detectives there were stolen guns in the house and Martinez used illegal drugs.
“Mr. Barboan stated he left the residence and also started Mr. Martinez was making some type of groaning noises,” Lopez wrote. “He took the baseball bat and broke out the window to the 1985 Blue GMC pickup, the driver’s side door.”
Lopez wrote that State Police Officer Darrell Blackhorse was told by dispatchers to be on the lookout for a 1980s Chevy pickup on the evening of Dec. 16, 2017 and he found it at the Circle K in Cuba.
Officers did not know about the homicide at this point.
Lopez did not write why Blackhorse was told to look for the truck.
Inside the truck, Barboan was lying across the front seat. He had a cut on the left side of his forehead. Blackhorse called for an ambulance and Barboan told him he got the cut because was jumped by “numerous white males,” Lopez wrote.
In the truck, Blackhorse found a bloody baseball bat and a rifle. He left the bat and seized the rifle and called an ambulance for Barboan, who was transported to the hospital. After Barboan was released, Blackhorse charged him for drunk driving, felon in possession of a firearm, driving on a revoked license, open container of alcohol in a vehicle and on two felony arrest warrants, he wrote.
Two days later, at 11:30 a.m., Dec. 18, 2017, two friends of Martinez went to his house. One of them, Coby Aragon, wanted to see if Martinez had any work for him, Lopez wrote.
When he went into the house, he found Martinez on the floor and told his friend, who called 911, he wrote.
Sandoval County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Stand arrived and saw Martinez appeared to have blunt trauma to the head and “there was lots of blood.” Martinez was cold to the touch and had no pulse, Lopez wrote.
Stand noted that it appeared there had been a struggle in the house and there was blood on several walls, he wrote.
Where the kitchen and living room met, there was a dark baseball bat with blood on it. The deputies referred the case to the State Police agents, Lopez wrote.
Lopez and DeTavis then interviewed Barboan while he was being held at the Sandoval County Detention Center, he wrote.
Lopez charged him with an open count of murder and tampering with evidence.
On Feb. 1, 2018, a Sandoval County grand jury indicted Barboan on charges of second-degree murder, unlawful taking of a vehicle, tampering with evidence, DWI, driving on a license revoked for DWI and open container of alcohol in a vehicle.
Barboan received credit for time served of 547 days, or just over a year and a half.
According to the plea deal, Barboan killed Anthony Martinez “as a result of sufficient provocation” but no court documents state what, specifically, Martinez did to sufficiently provoke Barboan.
On Dec. 9, 2017, Jerome Dayzie was driving back from Colorado to his home in Round Rock, Ariz, with his wife, identified as Terra Dayzie, and a friend, Marvin Johnson, 37. Jerome Dayzie, who had a blood-alcohol content of 0.196, crashed into the back of a parked trailer on the side of the road. Johnson was ejected and died at the scene, according to court records.
Jerome Dayzie was initially arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter, according to court records.
On April 16, 2018, he pleaded guilty to the same charge and on Feb. 26, 2019, District Judge Martha Vazquez sentenced him to the minimum under the sentencing guidelines, just over three years, despite four previous convictions for DUI, according to court records.
Butte off of U.S. Highway 191 near Roundrock, Ariz. Photo by Seth Graham/Flickr. CC-BY-NC-ND
They had driven to Cortez, Colo., to buy beer at the G-Whil liquor store. There, they bought three cases of St. Ides malt liquor, all in 40-ounce bottles. St. Ides has an ABV, or alcohol by volume, of 8.2 percent. They were sharing the liquor as they drove back to Arizona and Jerome Dayzie estimated he drank a whole bottle by himself, he told Fancher in an interrogation, according to Fancher’s affidavit.
Jerome Dayzie said Johnson was the one who wanted to go, Fancher wrote.
After he turned off Highway 491 and onto BIA/Indian Services/Navajo Route 13, the sun was in his face and a car was heading toward him. A trailer was parked “half on the road,” Fancher wrote, summarizing his interview with Jerome Dayzie.
“He stated ‘it’s either I hit the other vehicle or I hit the trailer,'” Fancher wrote. “He stated he hit the end of the trailer and flipped right over.”
Johnson was in the back seat of Jerome Dayzie’s Ford Explorer when he was ejected from the vehicle.
Jerome Dayzie’s wife, Terra Dayzie (identified as T.D. or Jane Doe-1 in some court records), said Jerome Dayzie drank about half of a 40-ounce bottle, Fancher wrote.
Fancher wrote:
“JANE DOE-1 stated she fell asleep and woke up when DAYZIE hit the back of a trailer parked along the side of the road. JANE DOE-1 stated (V-1) flipped over. She stated JOHN DOE-1 was thrown out of (V-1) and she tried to wake him up but he was not responding.”
When law enforcement arrived, they declared him dead at the scene, he wrote.
After crashing into the rear, Jerome Dayzie’s Ford Explorer flipped. Johnson was ejected and pinned under the driver’s side, Ruiz-Velez wrote.
One witness, behind Jerome Dayzie, said his car had been swerving from side to side before it hit the trailer, rolled, and landed on the driver’s side, she wrote.
The owner of the trailer said he and his son were driving to Arizona when they noticed the straps holding the furniture down seemed to be loose. They pulled to the side of the road to check the straps before Jerome Dayzie crashed into the back of the trailer, Ruiz-Velez wrote.
In an amended sentencing memorandum, Jerome Dayzie’s attorney, federal public defender John Butcher, wrote that the trio were “bootlegging” alcohol to the reservation.
According to a deputy field investigation by Tiffany Keaton, with the Office of the Medical Investigator, witnesses told law enforcement that the Explorer “clipped” the left corner of the trailer, causing the trailer to “fork” to the left. The explorer then flipped one and a half times. Johnson was ejected out the passenger-side window before it landed on him. He was not wearing a seat belt.
“Witnesses, were able to pull the vehicle off of Marvin Johnson,” Keaton wrote.
Fancher filed the for the arrest warrant two days after the crash, on Dec. 11., 2017.
Court proceedings
Pre-trial release
Jerome Dayzie pleaded not guilty, waived a preliminary hearing and a grand jury presentment on Dec. 15, 2017, and federal Magistrate Judge Steven Yarbrough released him to the La Pasada Halfway House in Albuquerque, according to the docket and a response by Ruiz-Velez to a motion to allow Jerome Dayzie to speak to his wife, Terra Dayzie.
Among the conditions of release, Jerome Dayzie was prohibited from speaking to any of the witnesses, his wife included.
Ruiz-Velez wrote that she opposed letting Jerome Dayzie talk to his wife “to assure the integrity of the judicial proceedings against the Defendant.”
“As mentioned in his Motion, they have four children and a home together,” Butcher wrote. “Thus, there is a need to coordinate the care of the children as well as the household finances.”
According to Fancher’s affidavit, Terra Dayzie told investigators that she fell asleep during the drive and only woke up as the crash was happening.
According to the plea deal, Jerome Dayzie admitted to killing Johnson while driving drunk.
The plea agreement contained agreement as to the sentence, other than that he was entitled to a reduction of two levels in the federal sentencing guidelines because he pleaded guilty.
Sentencing arguments
Ruiz-Velez wrote in a sentencing memorandum, dated Feb. 7, 2019, that Jerome Dayzie should be sentenced to the high end of the guidelines for his crime, 46 months, or just under four years.
She wrote that he had an offense level of 19 and a criminal history category of III, resulting in a guideline sentence range of 37 months (just over 3 years) to 46 months.
Shiprock. Photo by Bowie Snodgrass/Flickr
She wrote that his blood-alcohol content was extremely high, at 0.196, over double the legal per se limit of 0.08.
His criminal history included five prior arrests for DUI, four of which resulted in convictions, although only two of those were considered to calculate his criminal history category.
“It is troubling that Defendant was sentenced for these two convictions on June 21, 2016 and January 12, 2017, less than two years before the instant offense,” Ruiz-Velez wrote. “Defendant’s convictions show that he was aware of the illegality of his conduct when he decided to drive his vehicle while under the influence of alcohol on December 9, 2017.”
His “past conduct” endangered the lives of others, including his 15-year-old son, she wrote.
“He was a friend and family member,” Butcher wrote. “The three were drinking together. The alcohol found at the accident was due to the fact that the group was bootlegging alcohol back to the reservation.”
Butcher then wrote that they, as friends, went out drinking together.
“Unfortunately, they decided to drive home while intoxicated,” Butcher wrote. “Mr. Dayzie recognizes the loss caused by John Doe’s death.”
Jerome Dayzie is an electrician and is trying to get the licenses needed to “improve his employment,” although he is currently employed as such.
Butcher wrote:
“More importantly, Mr. Dayzie has taken his drug and alcohol treatment extremely serious. As the Court is aware, Mr. Dayzie has a long history of substance abuse. The defendant has remained totally sober while on Pretrial Conditions of Release. He understands now that when he drinks alcohol, ‘bad things tends to happen.'”
Butcher initially asked for a sentence of two years, which he called a mistake. In an amended sentencing memorandum, Butcher asked for a sentence of 37 months (just over 3 years).
The minutes do not contain any information about the reasoning behind the judge’s decision.
According to the minutes, Vazquez addressed Jerome Dayzie and then Johnson’s family members addressed Vazquez.
Although Ruiz-Velez was the prosecutor on the case, according to the sentencing minutes, she did not attend or argue for the sentence she requested at his sentencing hearing. Instead, prosecutor Novaline Wilson attended the hearing. Court documents do not state why she was missing.
Jerome Dayzie then spoke to the judge, and then the judge spoke to him again and imposed the sentence, according to the minutes.
She also ordered he pay $1,592.97 to the New Mexico Crime Victim Reparation Commission and $2,448.72 to Johnson’s sister.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —According to notice of a probation violation,Ryan Garcia was paroled on May 18, 2017 and released from prison after serving his seven-year sentence. After a month at a facility called Hoffman Hall, he moved in with his mother, after being “discharged” from the program, because he could not afford the rent.
Las Vegas, NM. Photo by Greg Gjerdingen/Flickr
On July 7, 2017, a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputy arrested Garcia after a woman reported him behind her house and allegedly threatening the woman. He was arrested for concealing his identity and assault. The deputies used one of his tattoos and his ankle monitor to identify him.
Garcia also allegedly failed to contact the drug test line every weekday after his arrest. However, between his release and arrest, he only called the line three times.
On Aug. 15, 2017, prosecutor Thomas Clayton filed a motion to revoke Garcia’s probation and on Sept. 15, 2017, he filed another motion to withdraw it and wrote that Garcia’s parole was revoked.
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Allegedly tired of having his property stolen, Christopher Pino, 52, allegedly ran down homeless man Daniel Arballo and tried to run down his friend, Billy Harper, after he saw the pair with a set of speakers.
He was initially arrested on charged of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
On May 1, 2017, Arballo was pronounced dead and on May 4, an autopsy was conducted. After the autopsy, officers decided to charge Pino with murder.
In June 2018, Pino pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter with a sentence capped at six years. In August 2018, District Court Judge Cristina Jaramillo sentenced him to 3 1/2 years. He received credit for 197 days served.
The incident
Christopher Pino
On April 30, 2017, officers responded to an alley at Central Avenue and Solano Drive. Daniel Arballo was immediately transported to the University of New Mexico Hospital for extensive injuries, Officer P. Moya wrote in an affidavit for an arrest warrant.
When Officers Israel Martinez and Lea Lopez first arrived, they thought it was a simple crash. While talking to the driver of a red hummer involved, Christopher Pino, Martinez was told that Pino was a suspect and he immediately read him his Miranda rights.
“Pino stated he was contacted by an unknown person who lives in the area,” Moya wrote. “The person stated there were two males taking stuff from his property, which is located at 3715 Silver SE. The building is an old church formally known as The Trinity Methodist Church. Pino decided to go to his property in hopes to stop the inviduals from taking his belongings.”
When he arrived, he saw two men in the alleyway carrying his radio.
“Pino then intentionally struck one of the males at approximately 20 miles per hour and was trying to hit the other male so they could be contacted by police when they arrived,” Moya wrote. “As he was attempting
to confront the other male, a crowd started to gather in the street. It was at this time Pino decided to leave the area.”
Homeless man Billy Harper’s view
Moya interviewed the other man, Billy Harper, who told him he was in the area when he saw his friend, Arballo, cleaning up weeds and branches from the church property.
“Scooby told Billy, ‘this was his people’s church,'” Moya wrote. “It was unclear when Billy decided to help him out but they
started to throw some trash and some branches inside the dumpster. They then obtained some speakers and while
in the process of walking those to the dumpster a red Hummer turned down the alley and accelerated.”
Harper estimated the Hummer to be going at least 40 mph.
“The driver then directed his attention towards Billy and told him, ‘you stealing from my church, you stealing from my church?'” Moya wrote. “He did this while shaking a shovel at him. The male was shaking the shovel at him while threatening to harm him. Billy stated he was only a short distance away, he estimated 15 feet.”
Shortly afterward, Harper alleged Pino left, then came back and threatened him again.
Seven Clover security guard Gregory Kreitman told Moya that he was outside smoking a cigarette when he saw two homeless men in the alley, shaking off jeans and throwing away trash.
Albuquerque, N.M., at Central and Morningside. Photo by Pom’/Flickr. CC BY-SA
“He then saw a red Hummer ‘fly’ down Solano and enter the alley and wreck his vehicle directly into the two males,” Moya wrote. “One was able to jump out of the way but the other was struck with the vehicle and went ‘flying.’ After the collision, the vehicle reversed and went after the other male.”
After the initial crash, Kreitman alleged, Pino started threatening to hit Harper with the car.
“Gregory then stood in front of the male to avoid him from being harmed,” Moya wrote. “The vehicle eventually drove off and turned east on Central and came back around on Silver to Solano. He continued yelling at the male, ‘You’re going to be killed, I’m going to kill you, you stole from me.'”
Pino allegedly stayed a few minutes before he heard sirens, then took off and he said he never saw Pino get out of the vehicle, contrary to Harper’s statement.
“Gregory added the driver kept telling the other male to come out into the road so he can hit him with his car,” Moya wrote.
Seven Clover employee Jamilex Delgado’s statement
Jamilex Delgado, an employee at Seven Clover Dispensary, told Moya she Kreitman dealing with a commotion outside. When he left the building, she saw a man in a hat, later identified as Harper, “freaking out” because it appeared the red Hummer was going to crash into him.
“Delgado recalled seeing the red Hummer enter alley way and possibly hit something,” Moya wrote. “This occurred prior to her any having knowledge of any situation that was transpiring.”
Pino allegedly threatened Harper with what appeared to be a shovel in his back seat, but she was not sure if it was a shovel, a bat or something else.
“Delgado stated the male was ‘raging,'” Moya wrote.
The perimeter
While at the scene, Moya saw a set of speakers in the alley and one was missing a cover. The cover was inside the gated church property.
“Officer Lucero and myself walked the perimeter of the church and could not locate any forced entry or any other type of entry,” Moya wrote. “I did locate some branches inside the dumpster. There was also a green couch cushion as well.”
A “responsible party,” Jacob Welch, allowed them in to make sure there were no signs of forced entry.
“Everything appeared secure and could only locate a window that was not locked,” he wrote. “The window was closed and could not determine whether that could’ve been used as any point of entry.”
Pino’s interview
At the scene, Moya talked to Pino and told him he would interview him at the police station.
“Pino uttered he was contacted by someone who lives in a triplex close by,” Moya wrote. “The person informed him that there were two individuals taking items from the church. I told Pino I will continue to speak with him at the substation so I could advise him of His Constitutional Rights per Miranda.”
At 5:18 p.m., at the Phil Chacon police substation, Moya read Pino his Miranda rights.
“Pino was asking me what he should do. I advised him I could not provide legal advice and that he would have to make the decision or he could contact an attorney,” Moya wrote. “During this time, Pino stated he only wanted to detain them until the police got there. He was tired of dealing with continuous burglaries and other property crimes that have been occurring on the property.”
Moya told Pino that he could not ask him any questions or engage in conversation, and Pino allegedly continued to say that he meant to knock the men down so they would not leave and after knokcing the first one done, he tried to knock down the second.
“He has been dealing with fires being lit inside the property and other nuisances,” Moya wrote. “He just wanted them to get arrested to send a message to others to leave the property alone. Pino stated he had a shovel in the car and wanted to knock the other guy out until the cops got there. It should be noted I did not ask any questions or partake in the conversation. When I engaged in conversation it was merely to provide understanding of his Constitutional Rights.”
Pino allegedly said he did not know what else to do about his property and said he was outside of his vehicle, threatening Harper.
“Pino reiterated he wanted to detain them when he saw them carrying his stereo,” Moya wrote. “Pino stated he didn’t have any intentions of killing or hurting anybody he just wanted them to stop. I eventually terminated the interview due to his indecision to waive his Constitutional Rights. I instructed him to contact an attorney and contact me for an interview if he wanted to.”
He was initially arrested on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Arballo died at 5 p.m., May 1, 2017. On May 4, a pathologist conducted an autopsy and thereafter, officers made the decision to charge Pino with murder.
Knowingly leaving the scene of an accident causing great bodily harm or death
Two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon
On June 5, 2018, Pino pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter, which has a maximum sentence of six years, signed by prosecutor David Waymire and accepted by Jaramillo. Waymire dismissed the other charges against Pino.
On April 22, 2017, Benjamin Montoya and his pregnant girlfriend were staying at their friend Joel Arciniega-Saenz’s motel room.
After a fight, someone shot Montoya in the chest. Arciniega-Saenz claimed a petite woman shot his friend, but Montoya’s girlfriend, Dakota Ocampo, alleged that Arciniega-Saenz was the shooter.
She had previously spurned Arciniega-Saenz’s affections and told him she viewed him as a brother.
Arciniega-Saenz was charged with an open count of murder and was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder on May 4, 2017 according to the docket.
All of them were at Arciniega-Saenz’s room at the motel. Ocampo and Montoya had come to spend the night there.
Alleged Eye Witness Dakota Ocampo’s version
Joel Arciniega-Saenz
Ocampo told Bardwell that she has been friends with Arciniega-Saenz for the past five years and she considered him to be a brother. At the same time, she had been in the relationship with Montoya for the past few months, Bardwell wrote, based on his interview with Ocampo.
“(Joel) met with her at Joel’s apartment to stay with her,” Bardwell wrote. “(Joel) has had a crush on her, and she told him she valued for friendship too much and did not to ruin it.”
Ocampo treated Arciniega-Saenz as a confidante, and told him all about her intimate relations.
She claimed that she fell asleep when she woke to Montoya arguing with a tall, thin man with shaggy hair whom she did not know. Because she did not have her glasses on, she could not recognize the man’s face, but noticed he was wearing a white shirt.
“(During) the argument between Benjamin and the Male she is struck in the mouth,” Bardwell wrote. “(Benjamin) and the male begin got physically (sic) fight. The fight moved towards the area where the refrigerator is located, and eventually back towards the bed.”
Montoya is pushed onto the bed and the unknown man pulled a gun and shot him, then ran out of the apartment.
“(Benjamin) screams for help, and walks out of the apartment towards the parking lot,” Bardwell wrote.
Shortly thereafter, Ocampo alleged that Arciniega-Saenz walked into the apartment, told her not to worry and to stay in the apartment before walking back outside.
“(Dakota) mentioned to the Affiant Benjamin had confronted her the previous night about being pregnant, and it had become a topic of conversation throughout the night,” Bardwell wrote. “Affiant asked Dakota if she is able to recognize people in the same room without her seeing glasses? She stated yes.”
She told Bardwell that the assailant was wearing the same clothes as Arciniega-Saenz, then said she was only 60 percent sure.
“Affiant asked if Joel was the person who shot Benjamin?” Bardwell wrote. “Dakota began to cry and stated yes.”
Interrogation of Joel Arciniega-Saenz
When he talked to Arciniega-Saenz, the latter allegedly said that Montoya and Ocampo were inside sleeping when he woke up and went outside to smoke. Bardwell did not write if he read Arciniega-Saenz his Miranda rights before questioning him.
“(He) sees a female approach him and ask for Dakota,” Bardwell wrote. “He thinks she is a friend of Dakota, and allows her to enter the apartment. (During) this time Benjamin and Dakota are still asleep. (While) he was outside doing his thing, he began to hear arguing coming from inside the apartment.”
He allegedly told Bardwell he heard a gunshot, hid behind a bush and watched as the skinny woman, whom he described as resembling a drug addict, ran out of the apartment, into the parking lot and left in a silver car. He also claimed he never approached Montoya or went back into the apartment.
Interview of neighbor Annette Martinez
His neighbor, Annette Martinez, told Bardwell that Arciniega-Saenz lives a few doors down from her.
Town House Motel, Las Cruces, NM. Photo by Thomas Hawk/Flickr. CC BY-NC
“(For) several days, Mrs. Martinez has been hearing Joel, Dakota and Benjamin argue, yell or make a commotion,” Bardwell wrote, based on his conversation with Martinez. “(On) today’s date, Mrs. Martinez hears Dakota and Benjamin arguing outside of room 105, which is Joel’s room. (They) continued to argue but took the argument back into the house where she could still hear them.”
Shortly after, she heard a bang. Initially she did not see anything. A short time later, Ocampo and Arciniega-Saenz were allegedly standing over Montoya’s body, he wrote.
“(Mrs.) Martinez is familiar with Joel and has witnessed him to become more aggressive lately and that he has recently made comments as to wanting to kill someone,” Bardwell wrote.
Bardwell claimed in the affidavit that Montoya’s injuries were not consistent with the shot being fired by a petite woman. He did not list his reasoning.
“Affiant observed a red substance to be blood on Joel’s sleeve, which is not consistent with the statement Joel gave of not making contact with Benjamin or enter the apartment after he is shot,” Bardwell wrote. “(Joel’s) statement and knowledge of the bullet wound to Benjamin is not consistent with him not making contact with Benjamin or entering the room after he is shot.”
When he looked at the bottom of Arciniega-Saenz’s shoes, he allegedly saw blood, as well as a large amount of blood at the entrance to the apartment, he wrote.
“Upon observation of Dakota, injuries were observed upon her body to include scratches upon her neck and an injury upon her mouth,” Bardwell wrote. “Due to affiant’s training and experience, the injuries that were observed were consistent to someone being involved in a physical domestic altercation which is consistent to Mrs. Martinez’s observations.”
Arciniega-Saenz was charged with an open count of murder.
On Oct. 20, 2017, his attorney, George Harrison, filed a motion to review the conditions of his release. Arciniega-Saenz had previously been ordered held on a $500,000 bond. In his motion, he wrote that the prosecution had not provided any forensic evidence and that the evidence that was collected corroborated his statement to police and asked the bail be reduced to $10,000.
According to Det. Ricky Bardwell, Arciniega-Saenz allegedly said a skinny woman came up to him while he was outside smoking, then went into the room he was staying in. He heard an argument, then a gunshot. He hid behind a plant, then saw the skinny woman run out of the room.
On Dec. 1, 2018, prosecutor David Ruark, filling in for Rebecca Duffin, filed an emergency motion to reconsider a previous motion for a continuance for a trial that was scheduled to start on Dec. 4, 2017. He wrote that the prosecution’s case was “almost entirely” dependent on Ocampo’s testimony. He was filling in for Duffin because she had a family emergency.
Investigators with the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office thought Ocampo was being held in a jail in El Paso, Texas, but found she had been released. Subsequently she was arrested in Las Cruces and police allegedly found a .38-caliber pistol on her, the same caliber weapon used to kill Montoya. The gun used was never recovered from the scene.
“The State is attempting to follow up on the latest lead and determine if there is a witness with either inculpatory or exculpatory information about the crime,” Duffin wrote.
She wrote she also sprained her ankle and would be in an ankle boot during the duration of the trial, which would hinder her ability to prosecute the case.
The same day, the judge reduced his bond to $2,500.
Duffin wrote she was dismissing the case, without prejudice, “because new information has come to light that requires further investigation in this matter.”
On April 22, 2017, Thomas Goodridge, 72, allegedly listened to a voice in his head that told him to kill his wife, Anna Goodridge, 76, because they were both going to be attacked in their Placitas home.
He allegedly took a rock from the front of their house and bludgeoned her in the head while she slept. He then washed his hands, combed his hair, brushed his teeth and then called police to say what he had done.
He allegedly told Sandoval County Sheriff’s Deputies they had been married for 46 years and was diagnosed as being bi-polar and had been taking his medication, but he was overcome with a fear that they were going to be attacked and he wanted to spare his wife as much pain as he could. He was arrested on an open count of murder.
On May 4, 2017, he was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder and on May 2, 2019, he pleaded no contest to one count of second-degree murder. A plea deal capped his sentence at eight years, which he was sentenced to on July 30, 2019.
“Upon arrival, Deputy Colvin detained Thomas Goodridge who had walked out of the residence,” Rodriguez wrote. “Thomas Goodridge made a statement about him murdering his wife, Anna Goodridge. Sergeant Marshal made entry into the residence. Inside the master bedroom, Sergeant Marshal located Anna Goodridge lying on the bed. Anna Goodridge had sustained severe trauma to her head and she was deceased.”
Next to the bed, Marshal saw a piece of rock splattered with blood. Colvin read Thomas Goodridge his Miranda rights, including his right to remain silent, and the latter agreed to talk.
“Thomas Goodridge told Deputy Colvin that he used a rock located near the front door of the residence,” Rodriguez wrote.
The rest of the rock was located at the front of the house, covered in blood, and matched the rock shard.
Rodriguez interviewed Thomas Goodridge a second time at the sheriff’s office.
“Thomas Goodridge informed us that he woke up around 1 a.m. fearing that he and his wife, Anna Goodridge were going to be attacked,” Rodriguez wrote. “Thomas Goodridge stated he and his wife, Anna Goodridge were asleep when he awoke. In the interview, Thomas Goodridge stated he had been hearing voices and he has been experiencing this fear of being attacked for months.”
Thomas Goodridge allegedly said he did not want his wife to suffer any pain.
“Thomas Goodridge stated, ‘I thought I would take her out of her misery, so that’s what I did,'” Rodriguez wrote.
He allegedly told the detectives he stopped hitting her with the rock when he thought she was head.
“Thomas Goodridge stated before he called the police he placed the rock back at the same location where he grabbed it,” Rodriguez wrote. “Thomas Goodridge stated while he waited for the Deputies to arrive on scene, he brushed his teeth and combed his hair.”
He said they had been married for 43 years and described his wife as “the best.” Although he is bi-polar, he allegedly told Rodriguez he had been taking his medication and when he went to bed, he felt normal.
“Thomas Goodridge stated the voices that he had been hearing told him, ‘That we both were going to be harmed, and if I did not want her to be harmed I would have to take her life,'” Rodriguez wrote. “Thomas Goodridge stated he has continued to hear these voices even though he is on medication and seeing a psychiatrist.”
McDonald previously, on May 2, accepted a no contest plea from Goodridge that capped his maximum sentence at eight years and set a minimum of four years. That plea mandated that the rest of his sentence be suspended, in this case seven years, and he be placed on supervised probation for five years after he is released from prison. The judgement and sentence also states that he will be placed on parole for two years.
Second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 15 years and it is a serious violent offense which means he must serve 85 percent of his sentence before he can be released, compared to the 50 percent required for crimes that are not considered to be serious violent offenses.
According to the judgement, Goodridge received credit of 828 days for time served while he was in jail awaiting trial, just over two years.
Sandoval County Sheriff’s detectives alleged brothers Liam, 18, and Jacob Johnson, 20, plotted to kill their uncle because he was getting between them in. They also planned his death in hopes that it would be a bonding experience.
On April 21, 2017, they allegedly lured him outside his room at the family’s two-house compound and hit him in the back of the head repeatedly with a three-pound sledge hammer.
They then allegedly loaded his body into the back of his own truck and dumped him into an arroyo in Rio Rancho, where his body was discovered, under a pile of his own trash, by a jogger.
Bothmen were indicted on May 4, 2017 on a series of charges including first-degree murder.
On March 8, 2019, Jacob Johnson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and five other charges. The plea agreement provided for a total sentence of 42 years.
On March 26, 2018, Liam Johnson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. According to his plea agreement, he faced a sentence of 15 to 20 years in prison.
Brother Liam and Jacob Johnson had a problem. Their uncle from California, Donald Kalma, was coming between them, Jacob Johnson allegedly said during an interview with Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office detectives on April 21, 2017, Detective Frank Tomlinson wrote in a statement of probable cause for the arrest of both brothers.
Liam Johnson
On the evening of April 20, 2017, the brothers allegedly discussed the disruption Kalma was causing to their relationship and what do about it.
“After a long discussion, it was decided that Jacob and the defendant would kill Mr. Kalma by possibly stabbing or beating him to death,” Tomlinson wrote. “In the early morning of April 21, 2017 the defendant (Liam Johnson) and Jacob arrived at the residence of Mr. Kalma and as Jacob waited outside the entry to Mr. Kalma ‘s apartment, the defendant entered the residence with the intent of stabbing Mr. Kalma.”
When Liam Johnson entered Kalma’s room, a loft in the garage of the family complex that consisted of two houses, he woke up and mistook him for another member of the family, although who exactly is not listed.
“The defendant (Liam Johnson) aborted the knife attack and lured Mr. Kalma outside the residence,” Tomlinson wrote. “The defendant left, followed by Mr. Kalma. As Mr. Kalma exited the door, Jacob described striking him in the back of the head with such force it ‘dropped him like a sack of potatos (sic).'”
Jacob Johnson allegedly said he used a three-pound sledge hammer to hit Kalma in the back of the head. As Kalma lay on the ground, gurgling, Jacob Johnson allegedly said he struck his uncle two to three more times in the head.
“The defendant (Liam Johnson) and Jacob moved the body of Mr. Kalma to the east side of the residence where Mr. Kalma began to ‘gurgle’ once more,” Tomlinson wrote. “At this time the defendant (Liam Johnson) retrieved the sledgehammer and struck him two or three additional times in the head.”
Jacob Johnson allegedly said he loaded up Kalma’s body into the back of Kalma’s 1972 Ford F100 truck, along with pallets and a garbage bag filled with soda cans that Kalma collected. Once they reached a ravine area, they allegedly tossed his body down, along with the pallets and bag of trash.
“The 3lb sledgehammer was ‘tossed’ away from the body as both parties drove away from the scene,” Tomlinson wrote. “Jacob described the events as ‘justified’ due to Mr. Kalma’s constant disruptions and his ‘coming between brothers.’ Jacob and the defendant (Liam Johnson) stated he believed killing Mr. Karma was going to be a ‘bonding’ activity.”
Jacob Johnson
On the afternoon of April 21, 2017, after the Johnson brothers allegedly dumped their uncle’s body in the ravine, a jogger found it and called 911 at 12:29 p.m. in Rio Rancho.
Officers found Kalma’s body had a wood pallet covering it, a few “squirt” soda cans and sheet metal screws, a gold Allen wrench and a nail.
“It appeared that these items possibly could have fallen out of a vehicle used to transport the body to the location,” Tomlinson wrote. “A few feet further down the road at an intersection was located a small handheld sledge hammer that appeared to have suspected blood on it.”
The pathologist found a large wound to the back of his head and other contusions on his head.
Detectives then headed to the family property Kalma had been living at in Bernalillo, in the 900 block of North Camino Del Pueblo.
“Investigating officers obtained consent to look around the property,” Tomlinson wrote. “The property contained two family dwellings and a detached garage with a loft where Mr. Kalma lived.”
On the property they found Kalma’s blue truck and saw the bed had recently been washed out, but there still appeared to be blood in the puddles of water in the back.
“A sheet metal screw matching the ones found at the crime scene was observed in the back of the truck,” Tomlinson wrote. “Wood or bark were also seen in and around the truck and one yellow ‘Squirt’ soft drink can was inside the bed of the truck as well.”
In addition, officers found a wooden fence that allegedly matched the wooden fencing found near Kalma’s body, as well as plastic trash bags with red draw strings which matched the ones found with his body, he wrot.
“Investigating officers also located suspected blood on a property building,” Tomlinson wrote.
Tomlinson had Jacob Johnson come to the Sheriff’s Office with him, read him his Miranda rights and the Jacob Johnson allegedly told Tomlinson about the killing, he wrote.
Liam Johnson was the first brother to sign a plea agreement, on March 7, 2018, although the document was not filed with the clerks office until March 29, 2018. District Court Judge Cindy Mercer signed the agreement on March 26, 2018.
He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
According to the plea, he faced a sentence of 15 to 20 years in prison followed by 5 years of supervised probation. The plea agreement was conditioned on his cooperation in the prosecution of his brother.
Jacob Johnson
A year later, Jacob Johnson signed a plea agreement, on March 4, 2019, along with prosecutor Jessica Martinez and his defense attorney, Marie Legrand Miller. The judge’s signature District Court Judge Cindy Mercer’s does not have a date. The plea agreement is time stamped by the clerks office on March 8, 2019 at 1:51 p.m.
A criminal information for Jacob Johnson was filed on March 4, 2019, charging him with three counts of tampering with evidence. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and six counts of tampering with evidence. The aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon charge was dropped.
According to the terms of the plea, Jacob Johnson was to serve a 42-year sentence, with the various six counts of tampering with evidence running consecutive to one another.
Sentencing
Jacob and Liam Johnson were both sentenced on May 10, 2019, by District Court Judge Cindy Mercer.
At 8:25 p.m., April 16, 2017, Kasey Weaver, of Albuquerque, crashed into a car after she tried to stop at a red light. Her boyfriend, Kit Francis II, who was the only passenger in the car, received extensive injuries and later died as a result. A Santa Fe Police Department officer alleged Weaver was intoxicated, on an antihistamine and alcohol, when she crashed.
On June 15, 2017, a Santa Fe grand jury indicted her on a single charge of DUI vehicular homicide.
A jury found her guilty of DUI vehicular homicide on Nov. 16, 2018 and Chief District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sentenced her to eight years in prison on April 10, 2019.
The incident
On April 16, 2017, Kasey Weaver, of Albuquerque and her boyfriend, Kit Francis II, 24, had allegedly been drinking and were headed back to Albuquerque, after drinking at Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, when Weaver crashed into a car, around 8:25 p.m., after she tried to stop at a red light at Cerrillos Road, before the exit to the I-25 interstate.
Kasey Weaver
Francis was transported to the hospital, but he had sever injuries. A few days later, he died from those injuries.
Tapia alleged he could smell alcohol coming from Weaver’s breath.
After Weaver was helped onto a gurney in one of the ambulances on the scene, de Luca followed behind. He did not write if he read her a Miranda warning.
“I asked Ms. Weaver what had occurred and she explained that she was traveling on Cerrillos Road and headed to I-25 Southbound en route to her residence in Albuquerque,” de Luca wrote. “Ms. Weaver added that as she approached the intersection, she noted that the traffic control light was red, attempted to stop and collided with the other vehicle.”
De Luca noted that Weaver’s eyes were allegedly bloodshot, her speech was slurred and he could smell alcohol coming from her breath.
Weaver allegedly said she had three to four drinks during the entire day and was coming from Meow Wolf.
While she was in the gurney, her neck immobilized, he administered two field sobriety tests, which appeared to indicate her alleged intoxication.
“I asked Ms. Weaver if she had consumed any other substances aside from alcoholic beverages,” de Luca wrote. “Ms. Weaver stated that at about noon that day, she had taken a pill of a drug she described as ‘hydroxyzine’ for the treatment of anxiety. I asked Ms. Weaver how many more she took and Ms. Weaver admitted taking a second pill sometime in the afternoon, and that she did not remember when.”
Hydroxyzine is an antihistamine that is also used to treat anxiety as it also acts as a sedative, depressing the central nervous system.
De Luca then had Weaver recite the numbers back from 74 to 52, which she did not do well on. He then arrested her, although she was transported to the Christus St. Vincent’s Regional Medical Center. There, she agreed to have her blood taken for a drug and alcohol test at 9:30 p.m., although de Luca also got a search warrant for the blood at 11:30 and a second vial of blood was taken at 11:30 p.m.
Weaver received 643 days (1.7 years) of credit for time served while she was awaiting trial, including 500 days she spent out of custody, but while being electronically monitored. In New Mexico, time spent on electronic monitoring counts toward the time served calculation.
Request for reduced sentence
In a hand-written motion on May 14, 2020, Weaver noted she has no prior convictions and, since being sent to prison, has not received any discipline.
“Further, I have been enrolled in multiple programs starting with Matrix in Santa Fe County Jail, Sober Living shortly after my transfer to Springer Womens Facility, and most recently with the completion of the Residential Drug Abuse Treatment Program on the 27th of March, 2020,” Weaver wrote.
Attached to the motion are a series of certificates noting the programs she completed.
Charges: DWI great bodily harm, knowingly leaving the scene of an accident causing great bodily harm or death, failure to give notice of an accident and criminal damage to property under $1,000
Status: Sentenced following guilty plea to DWI vehicular homicide
Sentence: 12 years followed by 3 years supervised probation
An allegedly drunk Paulo Vega-Mendoza allegedly crashed into the back of the motorcycle Paul Padilla, 63, was driving on April 15, 2017 on Airport Road in Santa Fe. Vega-Mendoza allegedly fled from the scene, after he allegedly crashed owbln car, a Dodge Neon. It landed on its hood. Witnesses, and then officers, allegedly chased Vega-Mendoza on foot before he tried to climb and fence and it broke, throwing him backward. Padilla died from extensive brain injuries on April 25, 2017.
On July 7, 2017, a grand jury indicted him on he was indicted on charges of DWI vehicular homicide and knowingly leaving the scene of an accident causing great bodily harm or death.
On April 29, Vega-Mendoza pleaded guilty to one count of DWI vehicular homicide and, according to the plea deal signed by prosecutor Blake Nichols, prosecutors agreed to drop the charge of knowingly leaving the scene of an accident. First Judicial District Court Judge T. Glenn Ellington accepted the plea.
At the scene of the crash, Flores found that the motorcyclist, Paul Padilla, was alive. He was flown to the University of New Mexico Hospital following the crash with extensive brain damage. He died April 25, 2017, 10 days later.
Witnesses told Flores that the motorcycle rolled, finally coming to a stop on top of Padilla.
Paulo Vega-Mendoza
Witness Mary Prone allegedly told officers she was driving east on Airport Road in the right lane and the motorcycle was in front of her and switched from the right to left lanes.
“Ms. Prones observed another vehicle, a Dodge Neon, pass her and did not brake,” Flores wrote. “The Dodge Neon struck the motorcycle from behind.”
Another witness, Margaret Johnson, said she was in the left lane and heard the Neon revving its engine and speeding.
“The Neon passed her in the right lane and cut in front of her to the left lane,” he wrote. “The vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed and struck the motorcycle.”
After hitting the motorcycle, Vega-Mendoza’s Neon rolled, coming to rest on its hood.
“Mr. Vega-Mendoza then exited the vehicle and fled the scene,” Flores wrote. “Mr. Vega-Mendoza did not render aid or give immediate notice of an accident prior to leaving the scene.”
Montijo followed Vega-Mendoza as he allegedly fled on foot, north on Camino de Jacobo. He was being chased by several people.
“Officer Jared Alire and I jumped the fence and were in the backyard of a residence on Acequia Borrada,” Flores wrote. “On Acequia Borrada a male pointed to the west and stated ‘He ran that way.'”
Alire and Flores scaled a fence and found themselves in the same back yard as Vega-Mendoza as he allegedly tried to climb the fence opposite.
“As I finished negotiating the fence I observed the fence the male was pulling himself onto had broke and the male fell backwards to the ground,” Flores wrote. “Officer Alire then placed the male into handcuffs.”
While talking to Vega-Mendoza, Flores could allegedly smell alcohol coming from his breath. He also noticed alleged bloodshot, watery eyes and slurred speech.
After being read the implied consent act, Vega-Mendoza refused to submit to a blood-alcohol test. Flores later got a search warrant for the blood and the draw was done at 7:25 p.m.
He was arrested on charges of:
DWI great bodily harm
Knowingly leaving the scene of an accident causing great bodily harm or death
Dominic Friedlein allegedly turned left in front of another car, causing a crash that killed one of the two people traveling with him on April 9, 2017 in Santa Fe.
He was arrested following the arrest on charges of DWI vehicular homicide and two counts of DWI great bodily harm.
He was originally set to have a preliminary hearing on April 19, but it was postponed for reasons unlisted in the court record.
On May 5, 2017, he was indicted on the same charges.
On Jan. 2, 2018, he pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and prosecutors dismissed the two counts of DWI great bodily harm as part of the plea agreement, which capped his sentence at three years. District Court Judge T. Glenn Ellington sentenced him to three years, with credit of one year time served, 354 days in jail and followed by one year on electronic monitoring.
The incident
On April 9, 2017, Dominic Friedlein was allegedly driving a silver Toyota 4Runner with his friends, Stefan Siegmann, 29, and Hanna Young.
Siegmann died from head trauma. Young’s injuries were not listed, although she identified Friedlein as the driver.
De Luca interviewed Friedlein following the crash.
Dominic Friedlein
“According to Mr. Friedlein, before entering the intersection, he observed a silver, 2009 Chevrolet approaching the intersection on the southbound side of Saint Francis Drive,” De Luca wrote. “Mr. Friedlein added that he thought he had enough time and initiated a left turn. Upon entering the intersection on a green light it appeared to him as if the approaching vehicle was not going fast then it sped up and struck his vehicle on the right front side.”
Friedlein allegedly admitted to drinking three beers at the Second Street Brewery and De Luca alleged that his eyes were bloodshoot and he smelled like alcohol.
After conducting a field sobriety test, De Luca alleged Friedlein was impaired to the slightest degree, the legal test for intoxicated driving in New Mexico.
The people in the Chevy, Pamela Reyes, suffered nasty injuries. Driver Pamela Reyes had two broken wrists and three broken ribs while her 7-year-old son Jose Chavez has a fractured eye socket and an internal nose bleed.
After arresting Friedlein, the officer applied for a search warrant for the man’s blood, which was granted. The blood was taken at the Christus St. Vincent Medical Center in Santa Fe.
According to a sentencing memorandum filed later by a prosecutor, his blood-alcohol level was 0.12.
He was originally set to have a preliminary hearing on April 19, but it was postponed for reasons unlisted in the court record.
According to a sentencing memorandum filed by prosecutor Johnn Osborn, Reyes was driving 64 mph in a 45 mph zone up to one second before she slammed into the 4Runner Friedlein was driving. She braked, bringing her impact speed down to 45 mph.
Osborn wrote that Freidlein told an officer at the scene,
“I had three beers on an empty stomach, someone else should’ve drove, I ruined my life today … How do you not blame yourself for something like this, I killed someone today.”
On May 4, 2017, a Santa Fe grand jury indicted Freidlein on charges of:
DWI vehicular homicide
Two counts of DWI great bodily harm
Plea
On Jan. 2, 2018, Freidlein pleaded guilty to DWI vehicular homicide for Seigmann’s death.
First Judicial District Judge T. Glenn Ellington
According to the plea agreement, Freidlein’s sentence would be capped at three years in prison followed by some term of supervised probation. In addition, the maximum sentence of 15 years would be imposed, but it would be suspended, so if Freidlein violated his probation, he could face much of the original maximum sentence.
According to prosecutor Johnn Osborn’s sentencing memorandum, Seigmann’s family wanted Freidlein to serve an additional year in custody, not counting the time he already spent in jail pending trial.
Seigmann was born in Austria to a mother from West Texas and a father from the Austrian Alps. He was a “central figure” in his extended family and his parents’ only child, Osborn wrote.
“He loved to plan ‘Cousins Weekend’ and family get-togethers and was lovingly known as ‘Muffin’ to the younger kids in the family,” Osborn wrote.
He was also a skilled skier and helped coach the Santa Fe Ski Team with his father, he wrote.
“From 2012 through 2017, Stefan and his father guided the Santa Fe Ski Team to national recognition,” Osborn wrote.
Before his death Seigmann planned to move to Flagstaff, Ariz. to “complete his education in Nursing.” He worked as a surgical technician at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, he wrote.
On April 1, 2017, Andrew Magill, 25, allegedly drove to the Coe Ranch, near Glencoe on U.S. Highway 70, and confronted Mary Ann Moorhouse, 61, who was helping take care of the property and Magill allegedly chopped her head off with an ax, according to an affidavit for an arrest warrant.
Andrew Magill
He then allegedly got a ride to the Ruidoso Downs Police Department, 10 miles down the road, from a passing motorist. There, he allegedly told officers he chopped a woman’s head off, he was Jesus, and his father was God, according to the affidavit.
He was then taken to the Lincoln County Medical Center where he got into a struggle with two deputies. Deputy Jason Green dropped his gun and Magill allegedly picked it up and shot him in the arm with it, according to court documents.
He was indicted on a single count of first-degree murder on April 10, 2017.
After being found competent to stand trial, he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, on Nov. 15, 2017.
On May 23, 2019, he pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit a violent felony on an officer and felon in possession of a firearm. According to the plea, he agreed that the basic sentences for each count would be increased by 1/3 for aggravating circumstances.
District Court Judge Daniel Bryant sentenced Magill to 45 years followed by five years of supervised probation. He faced a maximum sentence of 51 years.
Sanchez told dispatchers that he was out of town and he received a call from Mary Ann Moorhouse, 61, who said someone was on the property and he was going to investigate. He tried to call her several times thereafter, but was not able to get through.
“Lincoln County Deputies Anthony Manfredi and Charlie Evans responded to the Coe Ranch, to welfare check Ms. Moorhouse,” Christian wrote.
They found a white woman lying on the ground in front of one of the residences on the 260 acre property.
“The female had no signs of life, and her head had been almost completely severed,” Christian wrote. “An axe covered in blood was also observed on the ground near the body. Deputies also observed a cell phone on the ground near the body. Deputies Manfredi and Evans then backed away from the residence, and secured the scene.”
Resident Tim Huseman spoke to Christian and told him that he was in Lubbock, Texas, that Moorhouse should be the only person on the property and she did not know he was gone.
“Mr. Huseman said he feared Ms. Moorhouse may have gone to his residence while investigating the suspected intruder, assuming that Mr. Huseman was home,” Christian wrote.
After deputies secured the scene and started to apply for a search warrant, Christian learned that the suspect may have been at the Lincoln County Medical Center.
He had previously been dropped off at the Ruidoso Downs Police Department by a motorist who found him walking on U.S. Highway 70, 10 miles east of Ruidoso, near the ranch.
“It was later learned that Magill’s father had located Magill’s vehicle abandoned near the property and had driven it to the hospital,” Christian wrote.
Christian did not write what the alleged weapon used to kill Moorhouse was, nor did he write how it is thought she died, nor what she was decapitated with.
“Magill was very agitated and appeared to have dried blood on his hands,” Christian wrote. “Magill also had a laceration to his forehead.”
At the police department, Officers Carroll Scott and Charles Williams began talking to him, and then escorted him inside.
“Magill began ranting about being ‘Jesus’ and telling officers that his dad is ‘God,’ and he fought with ‘Satan,'” Christian wrote. “Magill said he had to ‘Kill a man’ and ‘chop a woman’s head off’ with an axe.'”
Because Magill was so agitated, officers called for an ambulance.
While at the hospital, Magill allegedly began to struggle with the deputies there to guard him.
“During the struggle, Deputy Jason Green’ s firearm fell to the ground and Magill retrieved the firearm and shot Deputy Green,” Christian wrote.
A Lincoln County grand jury indicted Andrew Magill on April 10, 2017, on a single count of first-degree murder for the death of Mary Ann Moorhouse.
Deputy Matt Christian was the only person to testify to the grand jury.
On that same day, District Attorney John Sugg filed a motion of intent to seek an alteration of the basic sentence for aggravating circumstances, which could increase the basic sentence by a third.
According to the Ruidoso News, Magill was found competent to stand trial on Nov. 15, 2017. He was arraigned that day and entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.
Two counts of assault with intent to commit a violent felony on an officer or, in the alternative, aggravated battery on a peace officer
Felon in possession of a firearm
Plea and sentence
On May 22, 2019, Magill pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit a violent felony on an officer and felon in possession of a firearm. District Court Judge Daniel Bryant accepted the plea.
As a part of the plea, he admitted he was convicted of drug trafficking on May 3, 2010, in case number D-504-CR-2009-00501, from a case in Chaves County.
The plea agreement states that Magill agreed that the basic sentence for each count would be increased by 1/3 for aggravating circumstances, but it also states there were no agreements as to sentencing and that the court was not bound to “those recommendations,” although it is not clear what recommendations the document is referring to.
The plea agreement also states the sentence for second-degree murder would be increased from 15 years to 20 years for aggravating circumstances, and an additional year added because of Magill’s prior trafficking conviction.
The two counts of assault with intent to commit a violent felony had their sentences increased from nine to 12 years, and increased by another two years for a firearms enhancement and the prior conviction.
The felon in possession of a firearm charged was increased to two years from 18 months.
The maximum sentence, under the plea, was 51 years.
According to the Ruidoso News, a psychiatrist hired by prosecutors found Magill killed Moorehouse during a “drug-induced psychosis.” Sugg said during a press conference, after the plea hearing, that the psychiatrist was paid $100,000.
Magill believed himself to be Jesus Christ and killed Moorehouse to save the world, Sugg said, according to the Ruidoso News.
In a press release dated May 23, 2019, Sugg wrote a long narrative outlining Magill’s movements and actions, which started on March 30, 2017, when he was staying at the Drury Hotel in Albuquerque with his wife and daughter. He began having hallucinations that he was being attacked by the devil and that he was Jesus Christ.
“Magill got into an altercation with a front desk employee at the hotel after losing his room key, and he threatened the employee before causing thousands of dollars of damage to the hotel,” Sugg wrote. “Magill retreated to his room where he quickly packed his family’s belongings and hurried his wife and daughter down the stairwell before police arrived.”
Magill started driving toward Roswell when he became convinced his luggage was cursed, stopped on the side of the road and threw out his family’s belongings. His hallucinations continued and he became convinced the world was ending and began threatening his wife and daughter. Once his wife had a chance to leave, she did and went to a relative’s house. Magill headed toward Ruidoso from Roswell and stopped at the Coe Ranch, he wrote.
After killing Moorehouse, he baptized himself in a creek and hitchhiked to the Ruidoso Downs Police Department and told them he kiled a man and chopped off a woman’s head with an axe to save the world. Officers transported him to the Lincoln County Medical Center for a mental health evaluation, Sugg wrote.
Stipulation of facts and aggravating circumstances
Impact on the families of Mary Ann Moorehouse and Jason Green
According to the stipulation of facts, Magill did not express remorse for either killing Moorehouse or shooting Green.
He told Dr. Michael Welner that his greatest regret was not being able to be with his daughter and never expressed remorse for his crimes in hundreds of hours of jail phone calls. When asked about significant painful experiences in his life, he did not mention these crimes as being among them. In his interview with Dr. Noah Kaufman, he could not remember Ms. Moorehouse’ s name and stated, “I was just really scared and desperate to end what I was going through. And I hoped she would have comforted me. But she didn’t. She was kind of standoffish and weird.”
The impact on Moorehouse’s family and on Green were profound. Green suffered “career-ending injuries” because of the attack and Moorehouse’s mother sufferes from short-term memory loss and can’t remember what happened to her daughter, according to the stipulation.
“Each time she forgets what happened to her daughter, her family has to tell her what happened and she has to relive learning about her daughter’s horrific death as if she was hearing it for the first time,” according to the stipulation.
Sentencing
Bryant Magill held sentencing hearings on Sept. 5 and 6, 2019 and, at the end, sentenced Magill to 45 years in prison followed by five years of supervised probation. (He sentenced Magill to 51 years but suspended six years.) If he violates his probation after being released, he could be sentenced to the remaining six years of his sentence.
All the crimes were considered serious violent offenses, meaning Magill must serve 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for release, or just over 38 years. However, he also received credit for over two years time served while awaiting trial.
According to a press release from Sugg, dated Sept. 6, 2019, Bryant considered Magill’s mental health to be a mitigating factor and wanted him to be supervised for longer after he is released from prison, and that was why he did not impose the maximum sentence.
Bryant wrote he recommended, under the special conditions of probation, that Magill be screened for a “treatment guardian.”
Joseph Vargas fatally stabbed Kenneth Torres at a party on March 31, 2017, and also stabbed, but not fatally, Julian Torres. Vargas was initially charged with murder.
A grand jury indicted Vargas on charges of second-degree murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, among other charges, on April 20, 2017.
On May 23, 2018, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. According to his plea agreement, he received a sentence of eight years followed by five years of supervised probation.
The incident
On March 31, 2017, Joseph Vargas and Kenneth Torres were at the same party, at an apartment at 95 Eventide Road SE in Rio Rancho.
On April 6, Ginn managed to arrest Vargas on a probation warrant and brought him in for an interview.
“Joseph stated he went downstairs to where he observed two subjects involved in an altercation,” Ginn wrote. “Joseph was able to identify the two subjects as ‘dead guy’ and ‘Juelz.'”
Juelz had a handgun, which he handed to Kenneth Torres.
Vargas allegedly said he then stabbed Torres and saw “Juelz” going to a car, Ginn wrote.
“Joseph said that he was not sure if Juelz was going to get a bigger gun and stabbed Juelz as he was getting into the car,” Ginn wrote. “Joseph said he took the gun from Kenneth and left the area in Kenneth’s vehicle as the passenger. Joseph stated he remembered waking up the next morning with the gun and knife however could not account for the whereabouts of the weapons at this time.”
He was arrested on an open murder count and a charge of tampering with evidence.
A year later, on May 23, 2018, and without any intervening court hearings, Vargas pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
According to the plea agreement, accepted by Eichwald and signed by Assistant District Attorney Andoni Garrote, Vargas had his sentence set at eight years in prison followed by five years of supervised probation. (Technically, Eichwald sentenced Vargas to 15 years, the maximum, and then suspended seven of those years, resulting in a sentence of eight years.)
In the plea, Vargas also admitted his identity to one prior conviction, for aggravated battery on an officer and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery on an officer. He pleaded guilty in that case on Sept. 16, 2016, in case D-202-CR-201600853.
On March 25, 2017, Matthew Rodriguez, 34 at the time, allegedly stabbed his 64-year-old neighbor, Mitchell Daniel, in the chest repeatedly, compelled by the voices in his head. He allegedly admitted to stabbing the man, who appeared to be living in a van outside of Rodriguez’s apartment complex.
On Oct. 19 or Oct. 22, 2018, Rodriguez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for Daniel’s death and, per the plea deal accepted by Judge T. Glenn Ellington, he received a sentence of 10 years followed by five years of supervised probation.
The incident
On March 25, 2017, Matthew Rodriguez, 34 at the time, allegedly stabbed his 64-year-old neighbor, Mitchell Daniel, in the chest repeatedly, compelled by the voices in his head.
Although Daniel was transported after the stabbing to the hospital, he died from his injuries shortly thereafter.
Officers found four men at the scene when they arrived, including Rodriguez and took all four of them into custody.
After Rodriguez was put into the back of the police car, he allegedly started punching himself in the face. After being handcuffed, he then allegedly started banging his head on the divider in the police unit. He was taken to the Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center for his head injury.
“While in the emergency room at the hospital being treated by the attending physician and nursing staff Matthew Rodriguez made a statement ‘how’s the fuck I stabbed doing’? and ‘I called 911 about the stabbing; I didn’t realize that I did it,” Trujillo wrote. “These statements were heard by attending physician and nursing staff.”
At the police department, Trujillo talked to Gary Brown, who described himself as an acquaintance and told Trujillo that he was one of the people who called 911.
“Mr. Brown was at the apartment with Matthew Rodriguez approximately one hour prior to making the 911 emergency call. Mr. Brown stated Matthew Rodriguez suddenly told him ‘you need to leave,’ and ‘fucking neighbor,'” Trujillo wrote. “Mr. Brown told Affiant Matthew Rodriguez is schizophrenic and hears voices in his head. Mr. Brown told Affiant this was not unusual to him because Matthew Rodriguez on other occasions had told him ‘you need to leave’ for no reason at all.”
He gathered his belongings and left the apartment. While outside, he heard someone yelling to call 911 and he went up to the apartment and saw Daniel lying on the ground, bleeding.
“Mr. Brown called 911,” Trujillo wrote. “Mr. Brown also told Affiant that Matthew Rodriguez always carries a kitchen knife with him.”
While Rodriguez was being held at the police department, an officer walked up and asked if he wanted a cup of water.
“Matthew Rodriguez responded ‘the person that I stabbed,
what’s going on with him?'” Trujillo wrote.
Later on, Rodriguez was interviewed and he agreed to waive his Miranda rights.
“In this statement Matthew Rodriguez admitted to stabbing Mitchell Daniel,” Trujillo wrote. “Matthew Rodriguez stated he did not mean to kill him, saying ‘I was just angry at the voices in my head.'”
He allegedly described the knife as being nine inches long with a black handle and he allegedly threw it into the sink after the stabbing, Trujillo wrote.
“Matthew Rodriguez stated he stabbed Mitchell Daniel inside Mitchell Daniel’s van which Mitchell Daniel had been living out of and parked in the driveway of 1713 Fifth Street,” Trujillo wrote.
On May 5, 2017, a notice was filed that Rodriguez’s competency was in question and on July 5, 2017, Ellington suspended the proceedings.
On Feb. 9, 2018, Rodriguez’s attorney withdrew the question of his competency and filed a notice that Rodriguez would plead not guilty by reason of insanity and an incapacity to form specific intent.
On April 17, 2018, prosecutors filed a motion to have Rodriguez moved from the Santa Fe Detention Center to the custody of the Department of Corrections, as well as a motion to close the courtroom to hear the motion.
On April 24, 2018, the Santa Fe Reporter published an article by Justin Horwath about Rodriguez’s confinement in the Santa Fe Detention Center and his extensive stay in solitary confinement.
According to the article, on Sept. 21, 2017, Rodriguez attacked two separate inmates, who declined to press charges against him.
First Judicial District Judge T. Glenn Ellington
“A corrections officer wrote in an incident report that Rodriguez said he assaulted the two inmates because they ‘are mind-control freaks,'” Horwath wrote.
On Sept. 21, 2018, prosecutors and the defense reached an agreement for a plea deal. That plea deal was signed by Ellington on Oct. 19, 2018 although the docket states the hearing took place on Oct. 22.
During that hearing, Rodriguez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
According to the plea deal, which Ellington accepted, Rodriguez will spend 10 years in prison, sans credit for time served. Prosecutors agreed to drop charges of aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence.
Ellington, acting according to the plea deal, sentenced Rodriguez to a total of 15 years, but suspended five and ordered that they be served on intensive supervised probation.
According to the judgement and sentence, Ellington ordered that the Department of Corrections place Rodriguez in “an appropriate Mental Health Unit where Defendant’s medical regimen can be fulfilled by the New Mexico Department of Corrections” and receive his required medication and mental health treatment.
