Location: U.S. Highway 82, near mile post 80, outside Artesia, Eddy County
Magistrate case number: N/A
District case number: N/A
Summary
State Police are asking for the public’s help to identify the person and vehicle that hit and killed a 39-year-old Roswell man on April 11, 2020 on U.S. Highway 82 outside of Artesia.
“Berdoza was transported to Artesia General Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased by the Office of the Medical Investigator,” he wrote.
Berdoza, of Roswell, was walking on the side of the highway when he was hit by the vehicle, which then fled the scene, he wrote.
“If you were a witness or have any information about this crash, you are urged to call the New Mexico State Police at (575) 382-2500 option 1 and tell the dispatcher you have information related to the U.S. Highway 82 hit and run,” Wilson wrote.
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SANTA FE, N.M. — State Police detectives are looking for a 2015 Ford truck, and its driver, which allegedly hit and killed 45-year-old Kevin Poirer around 10 p.m., March 27, 2020, as he walked down Highway 14, near the Santa Fe County Detention Center, which he had just been released from.
Kevin Poirer
The driver of the truck, described as having front end damage and a missing mirror, allegedly fled the scene after hitting Poirer, State Police Officer and spokesman Ray Wilsonwrote in a press release.
The truck hit Poirer near near mile post 43, he wrote.
Wilson spelled Poirer’s last name as “Poirier.”
Although Poirer was transported to St. Vincent’s Hospital, he died from his injuries, he wrote.
“The investigation indicates Poirier (sic) was walking south on Highway 14 and was struck by what investigators believe to be a south bound 2015 Ford Pick-up Truck,” Wilson wrote. “After striking Poirier, (sic) the truck fled the scene. The truck will have front end damage and will be missing a mirror.”
Location: Highway 14, outside Santa Fe County Detention Center, Santa Fe County
Magistrate case number: N/A
District case number: N/A
Summary
Kevin Poirer, 45, of San Diego, was allegedly killed following a hit-and-run near the Santa Fe County Detention Center, on Highway 14, on March 27, 2020, around 10 p.m. State Police are actively seeking the public’s help to find the alleged killer and his or her truck.
According to a press release from Officer and spokesman Ray Wilson,State Police detectives are looking for a 2015 Ford truck, and its driver, which allegedly hit and killed 45-year-old Kevin Poirer around 10 p.m., March 27, 2020, as he walked down Highway 14, near the Santa Fe County Detention Center, which he had just been released from.
Kevin Poirer
The truck fled the scene after hitting Poirer. The truck is described as having front end damage and a missing mirror. The truck hit Poirer near near mile post 43, Wilson wrote.
Wilson spelled Poirer’s last name as “Poirier.”
Although Poirer was transported to St. Vincent’s Hospital, he died from his injuries, he wrote.
“The investigation indicates Poirier (sic) was walking south on Highway 14 and was struck by what investigators believe to be a south bound 2015 Ford Pick-up Truck,” Wilson wrote. “After striking Poirier, (sic) the truck fled the scene. The truck will have front end damage and will be missing a mirror.”
According to a booking sheet from the Santa Fe County Detention Center, Poirer was booked on March 26 at 2:27 p.m. and released the following day, March 27, at 8:25 p.m., before he was hit around 10 p.m. It is not clear, from State Police, when the initial call was received.
Poirer was booked on a failure-to-appear warrant, according to the booking sheet.
According to a court docket, Poirer was initially arrested on a charge of breaking and entering on Dec. 9, 2019.
The Albuquerque Journal reports Poirer allegedly “pried open the doors to a Best Western hotel,” where police found him inside, and he told police he “just wanted to warm up.
Jail staff refused to admit him to the jail because of “severely infected” arm wounds, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
Wilson wrote that anyone with information should call State Police at (505) 841-9256, option 0, and tell the dispatcher they have “information related to the Highway 14 hit and run.”
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Mateo Maestas drunkenly crashed into an unidentified Laguna Pueblo woman’s car on April 19, 2019, killing her
The binding plea deal mandates his sentence will be between 5-8 years
In secret court documents, federal prosecutor Elisa Dimas asked for Maestas to receive either the maximum sentence or one greater than allowed under his plea deal
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A 22-year-old Acoma Pueblo man is tentatively set to be sentenced on Jan. 17, 2020, for an April 2019 crash that killed a woman and injured her two children on the Laguna Pueblo.
Laguna Pueblo as seen from I-40. Photo by Ken Lund/Flickr
Mateo Maestas pleaded guilty to a single count of involuntary manslaughter on Sept. 5, 2019. According to the plea deal, accepted by federal Magistrate Judge Laura Fashing, the sentencing judge is bound to sentence Maestas to five to eight years in prison. Eight years is the maximum sentence for involuntary manslaughter. He was previously indicted on the manslaughter charge on June 12, 2019.
She wrote that Maestas drove because his friends left him at his car following a minor argument.
“He made a terrible error in attempting to drive back to safety, one for which he will be haunted by for the rest of his life,” Schaffer wrote. “He called out for help to one of his loved ones, but he was too far away to be able to help.”
Schaffer does not write how Maestas was in danger, or what he was in danger from, that he needed to drive, drunk, to safety, or what safety he was trying to drive toward.
The presentence report, which isn’t public, suggested a sentence of 2 1/2 to 3 years, she wrote.
Schaffer wrote that she wants Browning to give Maestas a sentence at the low end of the plea agreement.
“Mr. Maestas has a criminal history of zero: that is, prior to this case, he has never been convicted of a crime, other than a single speeding ticket,” she wrote. “He is young, hard-working and educated, and aspires to help others in his future as he has been doing during his counseling sessions while this case has been pending.”
He is the grandson of Wilson Joe Chiquito, who was killed in his home. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation into his killing is still unsolved.
“Although there is no excuse for his actions on the date of the accident, Mr. Maestas was heavily impacted by the loss of his grandfather, and, at the time when this accident occurred, he had unfortunately fallen into a pattern of using alcohol in an unhealthy manner. He was forthright with his probation officer when he discussed his drinking habits, and that he ‘was struggling with alcohol use,'” Schaffer wrote.
Prosecutor Elisa Dimas wants Browning to give Maestas a sentence above the maximum of eight years agreed to in his plea deal because of his “uncharged conduct,” Schaffer wrote. This is because of the injuries to the Laguna Pueblo woman’s children.
One child, L.R., received “liver lacerations and spleen injuries.” She was unrestrained in the back seat.
According to Schaffer’s sentencing memo, Dimas’ request for Maestas to receive a sentence above what she agreed to in the plea agreement is document 45, which does not appear on the public court docket. There is no explanation as to why the document is being kept secret and there are no entries indicating it was sealed, or that either the defense or prosecution requested it be sealed.
According to Schaffer’s memo, Dimas wants Maestas to be sentenced to at least a maximum of eight years and one month, one month above what was allowed in his plea deal, although it is not clear if she is seeking a sentence above that and her request is not on the public docket.
Maestas also wrote a letter to Browning and the dead woman’s family. Although he wrote that he feels sympathy for the woman’s family and he regrets the decision he made, because it killed the Laguna Pueblo woman, much of his letter is about the unsolved killing of his grandfather.
LAS VEGAS, N.M. —Richard Griego‘s first-degree murder trial will likely not go to trial on Oct. 7, 2019, the date it had been scheduled for, after his attorney filed a motion questioning his competency to stand trial.
Farkas’ notice and motion come exactly one year after the case started moving toward trial after it was placed on hold the first time for the same issue.
On Sept. 11, 2018, according to the docket, an order was entered lifting the stay previously imposed on the case after the issue of competency was withdrawn by Farkas.
The case had been functionally paused the first time on Nov. 15, 2017, when Griego’s competency was officially questioned for the first time, although minutes from status hearings note that the attorneys and judge were aware that competency may be an issue.
CARRIZOZO, N.M. — A District Court judge sentenced Andrew Magill to 45 years in prison followed by five years of supervised probation, Sept. 6, 2019, for nearly decapitating a woman at a Glencoe ranch in April 2017 and shooting a Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputy after trying to turn himself in to police.
Andrew Magill
Magill had previously pleaded guilty on May 22, 2019, to charges of second-degree murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit a violent felony against an officer and felon in possession of a firearm. District Court Judge Daniel Bryant accepted his plea and entered the sentence. He suspended six years of his sentence and if he violates his probation after being released, he could be sentenced to the remaining six years.
According to the Ruidoso News, a psychiatrist hired by prosecutors found Magill killed Mary Ann Moorehouse during a “drug-induced psychosis.” Sugg said during a press conference, after the plea hearing, that the psychiatrist was paid $100,000.
On April 16, 2019, Mateo Maestas, 22, of Cuba, and enrolled member of the Acoma tribe/Navajo nation, crashed in Laguna into a car driven by a Monica Murray, 43, of the Laguna Pueblo, on State Road 124 (Old Highway Route 66). He was drunk. As a result of the crash, Murray died. Her two children, in the car, survived. On April 18, he was arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter, DWI and reckless driving.
On Sept. 5, 2019, Maestas pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charge under a plea deal that specified his sentence would be between five and eight years and it was accepted by federal Magistrate Judge Laura Fashing.
On Jan. 23, 2020, Federal District Judge Dee Benson sentenced Maestas to six years in prison and allowed him 60 days to self surrender. Maestas was arrested a month later for violating the conditions of his pretrial release.
(Note: This story has been updated with victim Monica Murray’s name. She was not named in court documents.)
The crash and indictment
On April 16, 2019, Monica Murray, 43, of the Laguna Pueblo, was driving west on Old Highway Route 66, also known as State Road 124, when Maestas, driving a black Ford sedan, either tried to turn onto Yellow Hill Road or tried to make a U-turn in the intersection, Bureau of Indian Affairs Agent Marcelino ToersBijns wrote in an affidavit for an arrest warrant, submitted to the court on April 18. The lead investigator was BIA Agent RoAnna Bennett.
Laguna Pueblo by ANOXLOU/Flickr
While turning, Maestas’s car slammed into Murray’s car, forcing it off the road and into a small wash on the side of the road.
The crash was initially reported by an unknown woman. The two children in the car were reported to have received serious injuries and the driver was dead when investigators arrived.
State Police Capt. Troy Velasquez told ToersBijns that he was the first officer to arrive at the scene and he checked on Maestas, who said he wanted to get out of his car and wanted help. Velasquez told the federal investigator he saw multiple beer cans in the car and Maestas smelled like alcohol. He made no mention if Velasquez checked on the woman or her children or what their status were.
Laguna Police Officer Keith Riley told ToersBijns that he arrived at the scene “minutes after it occurred” and also spoke to Maestas and asked him how much he drank.
“(He) replied he had too much to drink,” ToersBijns wrote. “MAESTAS was asked what he had to drink and MAESTAS replied margaritas.”
At the hospital, a “presumption blood results” showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.28, over three times the legal-per-se limit is 0.08. According to his plea deal, his blood-alcohol content was later determined to be lower, at 0.19.
According to a sentencing memorandum by his attorney, Britany Schaffer, Maestas was abandoned at his vehicle the night of the accident “in the middle of nowhere by his friends” following a “minor argument.”
“He made a terrible error in attempting to drive back to safety, one for which he will be haunted by for the rest of his life,” Schaffer wrote. “He called out for help to one of his loved ones, but he was too far away to be able to help.”
One of the children, L.R., suffered “liver lacerations and spleen injuries.” She was unrestrained in the back seat.
Schaffer does not write how Maestas was in danger that he needed to drive, drunk, to safety.
Although the criminal complaint was filed on April 18, Maestas was not arrested until May 22 and on May 29, he was released and placed on house arrest, according to court records.
The Office of the Medical Investigator only provided a deputy field investigation following a request for Murray’s autopsy report.
Field investigator Robert Hays wrote in the field investigation that the children in the car with Murray were easily extricated.
“Ms. Murray was still trapped in the drivers (sic) seat, seat belted in and encased by the vehicles (sic) steering column, doorway and dash; all airbags were deployed,” Hays wrote.
He wrote Murray “was a large woman” and appeared to have hit something in the car because “her abdomen fat tissue was all around the front compartment.”
It took over an hour to extract her body from the car, Hays wrote.
She wrote that Maestas drove because his friends left him at his car following a minor argument.
“He made a terrible error in attempting to drive back to safety, one for which he will be haunted by for the rest of his life,” Schaffer wrote. “He called out for help to one of his loved ones, but he was too far away to be able to help.”
Schaffer does not write how Maestas was in danger, or what he was in danger from, that he needed to drive, drunk, to safety, or what safety he was trying to drive toward.
The presentence report, which isn’t public, suggested a sentence of 2 1/2 to 3 years, she wrote.
Schaffer wrote that she wants Browning to give Maestas a sentence at the low end of the plea agreement.
“Mr. Maestas has a criminal history of zero: that is, prior to this case, he has never been convicted of a crime, other than a single speeding ticket,” she wrote. “He is young, hard-working and educated, and aspires to help others in his future as he has been doing during his counseling sessions while this case has been pending.”
He is the grandson of Wilson Joe Chiquito, who was killed in his home. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation into his killing is still unsolved.
“Although there is no excuse for his actions on the date of the accident, Mr. Maestas was heavily impacted by the loss of his grandfather, and, at the time when this accident occurred, he had unfortunately fallen into a pattern of using alcohol in an unhealthy manner. He was forthright with his probation officer when he discussed his drinking habits, and that he ‘was struggling with alcohol use,'” Schaffer wrote.
Prosecutor Elisa Dimas wants Browning to give Maestas a sentence above the maximum of eight years agreed to in his plea deal because of his “uncharged conduct,” Schaffer wrote. This is because of the injuries to Murray’s children.
One child, L.R., received “liver lacerations and spleen injuries.” She was unrestrained in the back seat.
According to Schaffer’s sentencing memo, Dimas’ request for Maestas to receive a sentence above what she agreed to in the plea agreement is document 45, which does not appear on the public court docket. There is no explanation as to why the document is being kept secret and there are no entries indicating it was sealed, or that either the defense or prosecution requested it be sealed.
According to Schaffer’s memo, Dimas wants Maestas to be sentenced to at least a maximum of eight years and one month, one month above what was allowed in his plea deal, although it is not clear if she is seeking a sentence above that and her request is not on the public docket.
Maestas also wrote a letter to Browning and Murray’s family. Although he wrote that he feels sympathy for the woman’s family and he regrets the decision he made, because it killed Murray, much of his letter is about the unsolved killing of his grandfather.
Sentence
Federal District Judge Dee Benson sentenced Maestas on Jan. 23, 2020, to six years in prison, during an hour and 20 minute hearing in federal District Court in Albuquerque.
According to the sentencing minute sheet, Dimas asked for an 8-year sentence during the hearing and Maestas’ defense attorney, Britany Schaffer, asked for a 5-year sentence.
According to the minutes, four members of Maestas’ family addressed the judge: M. Vigil, L. Castillo, M. Pablo and J. Maestas.
Maestas also addressed the court, but the minutes contain no information to what anyone said.
Three people also spoke in court on behalf of Murray. M. Valdez spoke on behalf of her family, M. Garcia spoke as a member of the victim’s family and R. Garcia spoke as the guardian of the dead woman’s children, according to the minutes.
Maestas was originally supposed to be sentenced by a different judge. No records indicate why Benson, normally a judge in Utah, sentenced Maestas.
No court documents illuminate why Benson settled on the sentence he did.
Release violations
After Benson gave Maestas 60 days to turn himself in to begin serving his prison sentence, Maestas’ attorneys requested he be allowed to return to his home pending his self-surrender, which Benson granted. Since Dec. 6, 2019, Maestas was living at a halfway house in Albuquerque. Before that, he had been on house arrest.
On Feb. 26, 2020, a federal judge with an illegible signature ordered Maestas arrested, which he was, on March 3, 2020, in Albuquerque.
“Defendant failed to comply with conditions of release: alcohol use, failed to report contact with law enforcement and failed to comply with travel restrictions,” according to the warrant.
Federal Magistrate Judge Paul Briones revoked the conditions of his release on March 5 and ordered he be sent to prison to begin serving his sentence.
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 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.
The officer was shot in the arm.
[pdf-embedder url=”https://nmhomicide.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/PC-Andrew-Magill-4-1-2017.pdf” title=”PC – Andrew Magill – 4-1-2017″]
Indictment
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.”
On March 28, 2017, Richard Griego allegedly threw Jimmy Griego, 37, off of a bridge over the Pecos River on State Road 3, an allegation backed up by data from an ankle bracelet Richard Griego was wearing from a separate case which tracked his movements via GPS, according to court filings.
On May 1, 2017, Richard Griego was bound over to District Court on charges of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence following a preliminary examination. On Nov. 15, 2017, his competency to stand trial was raised as an issue and proceedings were stayed until Sept. 11, 2018, when the Notice of Competency Issue was withdrawn.
A year later, on Sept. 11, 2019, competency was again raised as an issue and the case has been stayed.
The incident
On March 28, 2017, Beverly Quintana called 911 to report that someone dumped a body off of the bridge over the Pecos River, on State Road 3, and the dumped person was her cousin, State Police Agent Patrick Montoyawrote in an affidavit for an arrest warrant.
Quintana told Montoya that she was driving south when she passed a white Ford truck heading the opposite direction. She described the driver as being angry.
Richard Griego
“As the pickup continued passed (sic) her, she noticed a male in the bed area of the pickup,” Montoya wrote. “She recognized the male in the bed of the pickup as her cousin, who she identified as Jimmy Griego.”
Quintana kept the truck in her rear view mirror and she watched as the truck stopped. Her cousin was on his knees in the back and he appeared to be terrified.
The driver pulled over and stopped on the bridge, got out and walked toward the back of the truck with someone in his right hand.
Quintana then turned around and drove back toward the truck and watched as the man, allegedly Richard Griego, carried her cousin on his shoulder, walked to the edge of the bridge and threw him over, to the river below.
When she stopped, got out, and looked down, she saw her cousin’s body floating in the river and blood on the back of his shirt. She then recognized the driver was Richard Griego.
The agent then learned that Richard Griego was on probation and required to wear an ankle monitor with a GPS unit in it. The tracking device allegedly placed him at the river at 4:18 p.m., the day of Jimmy Griego’s death.
Quintana called 911 two minutes later at 4:20.
“A Field Examiner for the Office of the Medical Investigator found blunt force trauma and two lacerations to Jimmy’s head,” Montoya wrote. “I observed the injuries to Jimmy’s head, including an indentation to the left side of his head.”
He was charged with an open count of murder and tampering with evidence, according to the docket.
Las Vegas Magistrate Judge Christian Montaño held a preliminary hearing on May 1 and bound over Richard Griego on charges of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. On May 19, in District Court, Richard Griego’s attorney Todd Farkas filed a motion in District Court to waive the arraignment and to enter a plea of not guilty.
Jail recordings
According to a Dec. 11, 2018 motion filed by prosecutorThomas Clayton, Richard Griego made multiple phone calls while he was in jail that he wanted admitted as evidence.
In a May 1, 2017 call, he allegedly told his mother that someone else wanted to borrow his truck, that “those weren’t even my shoes and I wasn’t driving my truck.” His mother responded that they should not discuss “this stuff” on the phone.
Clayton wrote that the truck is an issue because Quintana saw him in his truck, on the bridge with the victim. A shoe print was also taken from the crime scene and it is a similar pattern to one seized from his house.
In a June 6, 2017 call, he talked to his mother about conversations with his attorney about getting out on bail.
“I feel this even more leaning towards, if I could get this to a justifiable homicide by citizen, protecting myself and family and property from all these conspiracies against me and stuff, will that make it easier to get a bond,” Clayton wrote, quoting from Richard Griego’s call.
In July 24 call, Richard Griego allegedly told his mother he could “beat these charges” because he didn’t “do” them and that he never hit Jimmy Griego with a weapon, but he didn’t want him “to come back and try to kill me, but he could have crawled out of the water and fucking not died. And let me alone. But no, they do, they do all this stuff. It’s all their fault that this stuff happened. Not my fault.” Clayton wrote, quoting Richard Griego.
Competency raised the first time
District Judge Gerald Baca
On Nov. 15, 2017, competency was formally raised in a written motion for the first time by Farkas. In an order on the same date, District Court Judge Gerald Baca wrote that Richard Griego had been found “in-competent” by Dr. Susan Cave and that the proceedings would be stayed pending a determination on his competency and the issue of his dangerousness.
According to notes from the June 14, 2017 status hearing, Farkas notified District Judge Gerald Baca has a documented history of mental illness and he needed to be assessed.
During a Aug. 16, 2017 hearing, prosecutor Thomas Clayton told Baca that Richard Griego sent a letter to State Police officers about an unrelated homicide, a theft and that there were also jail recordings he wanted the psychologist to listen to and that he agreed that he “may have mental issues,” according to the notes.
During an Oct. 11, 2017, hearing, Baca told the attorneys he was concerned about the discussions of competency when no motion about competency had been filed. Farkas replied that he was waiting for a report on his mental health, according to the notes.
On Sept. 11, 2018, Baca ordered that the case would start moving forward because Richard Griego’s attorney had withdrawn his claim that his client was not competent to stand trial. Farkas did not file a motion but a hearing on competency had previously been held on Sept. 7, 2018, and the records of that hearing were sealed.
No-bail hold lifted
On Aug. 1, 2018, Baca ordered Richard Griego be released if he could post a $50,000 cash bail and into the custody of a third party.
Prosecutors did not contest that finding until Sept. 25, when Clayton filed a motion for pre-trial detention.
“Upon information and belief, the family of the defendant has raised the funds to post the bond,” Clayton wrote.
On Aug. 3, 2018, Richard Griego was charged with two counts of possession of a deadly weapon by a prisoner, specifically, a handcuff key and a “nail/bolt like device approximately 4 1/2 inches in length,” he wrote.
Baca then held a hearing on Oct. 2, 2018 and ordered Richard Griego be held without bail pending trial, according to notes from the hearing.
Competency raised second time
Richard Griego’s case was placed on hold a second time, on Sept. 11, 2019, after his attorney raised the question of his competency to stand trial a second time, according to the docket.
According to the docket, the case had been set for a trial on Oct. 7, 2019 in the San Miguel County Courthouse.
A docket call was set for Sept. 25, 2019 and the judge issued an order staying the case, according to the docket.
He allegedly told two Border Patrol agents, one of whom found Lopez’s body, that she was going to kill him and his family and that he was with other people in a berm in the desert. The agents could find neither footprints nor signs of anyone else. Based on evidence at the scene, it appeared the two had been traveling west from Florida.
On April 7, a preliminary hearing was held. The judge ordered Lobato-Rodriguez, who declared to the agents that he is in the country illegally, be bound over on a charge of first-degree murder.
On April 19, 2017, prosecutors filed a criminal information in District Court charging him with first-degree murder. On Aug. 20, 2020, a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder following a four-day trial and one hour of jury deliberations.
On Nov. 2, 2020, Judge Jarod Hofacketsentenced Lobato-Rodriguez to the maximum for second-degree murder: 15 years. He gave him credit for time already served in jail while awaiting a trial, 3 years, 7 months and 17 days, bringing down the total amount of time he still has to serve to 11 years, 4 months and 14 days.
He is appealing the verdict.
The incident
Border Patrol Agent John Enriquez was driving to Hachita to get acquainted with the area because he had just transferred over, March 17, 2017. On his drive, two miles east of Hachita, he saw a grey Chrysler mini-van parked on the side of the road. He kept on driving.
He turned around, parked, and approached the vehicle, Mascorro wrote, referring to his conversation with Enriquez.
“As got close to the driver, he noticed it was a female with a belt around her neck,” Mascorro wrote. “She was deceased.”
The woman would later be identified as Connie Lopez, of Lake Placid, Fla., with a hotel reservation in El Paso, Texas.
While he was calling in the situation to his dispatchers, he was allegedly approached by Lobato-Rodriguez, who allegedly told Enriquez he is an illegal alien.
Shortly thereafter, Border Patrol Agent Adrian Garcia arrived to help Enriquez.
“Mr. Rodriguez mumbled to them, stating he killed her because she was going to kill his family,” Mascorro wrote. “He also stated there were other people traveling with him in a white pick-up. and some were hiding in the berm in the desert.”
Garcia told Mascorro much the same, although he described the mumbling as being “really fast.” He also said that Lobato-Rodriguez allegedly said he killed Lopez because she was going to kill him and his family, not just his family.
After he mumbled about her going to kill him, Garcia handcuffed him and read him his Miranda rights.
“Agent Garcia went and looked for tracks but was only able to locate Mr. Rodriguez’s tracks,” Mascorro wrote.
Mascorro found documents in the vehicle belonging to Lobato-Rodriguez as well and they also indicated he lived in Florida, like Lopez. Mascorro did not specify if Lopez and Lobato-Rodriguez were in a relationship or if they were traveling together.
“Documents inside the vehicle showed Connie Lopez was traveling from Florida on March 15, 2017 heading westbound,” Mascorro wrote.
After the agents took Lobato-Rodriguez to the State Police Office in Deming, Mascorro tried to interview him, but Lobato-Rodriguez said he wanted an attorney present. This ended the conversation because he had asserted his Miranda rights.
According to Lobato-Rodriguez’s trial testimony, Lopez was driving him to his home in Mexico.
[pdf-embedder url=”https://nmhomicide.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Probable-cause-Isaias-Lobato-Rodriguez.pdf” title=”Probable cause – Isaias Lobato-Rodriguez”]
Pathologist Veena Singh and Forensic Pathology Fellow Rebecca Asch-Kendrick wrote in the report that there was other evidence of strangulation as well.
Missed trial dates
On April 7, 2017, a preliminary hearing in the case was held and Lobato-Rodriguez was ordered bound over to district court on a charge of first-degree murder.
Harrison filed a second motion to suppress on Aug. 13, 2018, again focusing on the interrogation by the two border patrol agents. On Aug. 21, 2018, Hofacket again denied the motion to suppress and wrote that Harrison had not presented new evidence or new circumstances.
On Aug. 22, 2018, Harrison filed a motion to withdraw because he got a job working for the state of New Mexico.
On Oct. 3, 2019, Lobato-Rodriguez’s new attorney, Chico Gallegos, filed a motion to continue the jury trial, set for Oct. 7, 2019. He wrote that it “became clear” that he needed to hire an expert witness to translate what was said in English, and in Spanish, for the various communications between border patrol agents and Lobato-Rodriguez.
Plea hearing/trial date
On Dec. 4, 2019, a jury trial was set for August 17 through 21, 2020, and a pre-trial conference for July 20, 2020, at the district court in Deming.
On Jan. 21, 2020, the judge set a plea hearing and pre-trial conference for July 27, 2020, at the district courthouse in Silver City.
On June 5, 2020, the court clerk entered an amended notice of a pre-trial conference and plea hearing set for 1 p.m., July 27, 2020, done via video conference. The hearing is set for 15 minutes.
It is not clear from the court documents and filings if Lobato-Rodriguez plans to plead guilty or if it is a perfunctory hearing before the trial. The hearing is set for 15 minutes.
According to the docket, most of the previous pre-trial conferences have been also labeled as plea hearings.
The jury foundLobato-Rodriguez guilty of second-degree murder on Aug. 20, 2020, following a four-day trial and a single hour of jury deliberation, according to logs of the trial.
After the verdict his attorney, Harrison, filed a motion for a new, giving three reasons in his motion:
• An improper comment by prosecutor Matthew Bradburn, during opening statement over Lobato-Rodriguez asserting his right to remain silent, citing the 2007 case State v. Rodriguez.
• A failure to correct an improper translation in which Lobato-Rodriguez mumbled that he thought the victim told him he would “be dead that day.”
• The denial of a previous motion to suppress, previously denied twice by the judge.
On Nov. 2, 2020, Hofacket sentenced Lobato-Rodriguez to the maximum for second-degree murder: 15 years. He gave him credit for time already served in jail while awaiting a trial, 3 years, 7 months and 17 days, bringing down the total amount of time he still has to serve to 11 years, 4 months and 14 days.
Appeal
On Nov. 10, 2020, Hofacket appointed the public defenders office to appeal Lobato-Rodriguez’s conviction, according to the docket. On Dec. 21, 2020, Harrison filed a docketing statement with the court of appeals, contending that five issues in the case were grounds for a new trial:
Harrison previously motioned for a mistrial on three grounds, repeated in the appeal — the Fifth Amendment statement, the improper interpreting and the denials of motions to suppress. Hofacket denied that motion.
Harrison wrote in the docketing statement that he hired a certified Spanish interpreter to compile a “complete interpretation” of Lobato-Rodriguez’s testimony.
“The interpreter filed an affidavit with the district court,” Harrison wrote. “The affidavit states, among other things, that the quality of the audio recording of Mr. Lobato-Rodriguez’s testimony during trial is so poor that a proper interpretation would not be possible.”
Harrison wrote in the docketing statement and other motions that there was an improper translation, where Lobato-Rodriguez mumbled that he thought the victim told him he would “be dead that day.”
Harrison wrote that the rules for a jury trial during a pandemic meant the jurors were seated in the audience section of the courtroom, the family of the victim, Harrison and Lobato-Rodriguez were in the jury box, with their backs to the jury, and everyone was wearing masks.
Two Spanish interpreters translated during the trial for Lobato-Rodriguez and one juror.
“The COVID rules in effect made for great difficulty hearing potential jurors during voir dire and understanding witnesses called to the stand during trial testimony,” Harrison wrote.
Charges: DWI vehicular homicide, two counts of DWI great bodily harm, aggravated DWI, possession of an alcoholic beverage by a minor and open container of alcohol in a vehicle
Status: Guilty plea to DWI vehicular homicide, two counts of DWI great bodily harm
Sentence: 9 years followed by 5 years supervised probation
While driving in excess of 100 mph on Feb. 24, 2017, Luke Griffin slammed into the back of another car, killing Corrina Vaden and injuring Kimberley Butcher and Elizabeth Rotter. A blood-alcohol test showed a level of 0.22, over twice the legal limit of 0.08.
On March 16, 2017, a grand jury indicted Griffin on charges of DWI vehicular homicide, two counts of DWI great bodily harm, aggravated DWI, possession of an alcoholic beverage by a minor and possession of an open container of alcohol in a vehicle.
On Dec. 11, 2017, Griffin pleaded guilty to DWI vehicular homicide and two counts of DWI great bodily harm and, per the plea agreement accepted by District Court Judge Louis P. McDonald, he was to receive a sentence of 9 years and 122 days and be given credit for 122 days time served. None of the crimes were to be considered serious violent offenses, decreasing the amount of time required to serve before being released on probation or parole from 85 percent to 50 percent.
According to the plea, he is also to be on supervised probation for 5 years after his release. McDonald officially sentenced him on Dec. 15, 2017 who, based on the plea, gave him a total sentence of 21 years, but suspended 11 years, for the 9 year sentence.
The incident
Around 11 p.m., Feb. 24, 2017, State Police Officer Larry Reuter was dispatched to Interstate 25 at mile post 252 to investigate a multiple-vehicle crash. Medics were already on the scene, trying to extract two passengers and one of the drivers involved, Reuter wrote in a statement of probable cause for Griffin’s arrest.
Luke Griffin
At 11:21 p.m., Reuter arrived and saw two cars on the shoulder.
He would later learn that Corrina Vaden died and two others, Kimberley Butcher and Elizabeth Rotter, had life-threatening injuries and were taken to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.
The two cars involved were a silver 2004 Audi and a 2014 Nissan, with its roof caved in and parts of the door missing. Griffin was allegedly the driver of the Audi and officers were later find him to be allegedly intoxicated.
“Emergency medical personnel were rendering aid to the driver and passenger of Nissan (Vehicle 2),” Reuter wrote. “The driver of Vehicle 2 was motionless and slumped over in the driver seat.”
One man was walking around, stating he was a witness and that Audi had been driven erratically before the crash.
Another witness, unnamed, said the Audi had been going over 100 mph to pass vehicles on the right shoulder.
“A different witness provided a verbal statement they observed Luke Griffin exit the audi after the crash and throw what appeared to be a liquor bottle over a fence,” Reuter wrote.
After Griffin was cleared by medics, Reuter found him to be stumbling, have bloodshot eyes and he allegedly smelled of alcohol. He also allegedly slurred his speech.
“I asked Luke how many alcoholic beverages he consumed and he stated he drank three beers at approximately 6 00 pm this date,” Reuter wrote.
Reuter then had Griffin do a series of field sobriety tests, which he allegedly did poorly on.
“Based on Luke’s state of intoxication and his safety the SFST’s were terminated,” Reuter wrote, referring to the field sobriety tests.
Reuter took Griffin to the State Police office for a blood-alcohol level test and found the tests were allegedly 0.22, above 0.16, twice the legal-per-se limit. He did not write what the exact measurements were. He then had a blood draw done at the State Police office.
possession of an open container of alcohol in a vehicle
two counts of DWI great bodily harm
Judge Louis McDonald
On Dec. 11, 2017, Griffin pleaded guilty to DWI vehicular homicide and two counts of DWI great bodily harm and, per the plea agreement accepted by District Court Judge Louis McDonald, he was to receive a sentence of 9 years and 122 days and be given credit for 122 days time served. None of the crimes were to be considered serious violent offenses, decreasing the amount of time required to serve before being released on probation or parole from 85 percent to 50 percent.
According to the plea, he is also to be on supervised probation for 5 years after his release. McDonald officially sentenced him on Dec. 15, 2017. McDonald, based on the plea, gave him a total sentence of 21 years, but suspended 11 years, for the 9 year sentence.
Arthur Rivera’s daughter-in-law, who was also his caretaker since 2011, allegedly stabbed him 20 times, 15 in the body and five to the head.
Ruth Rivera claimed her father law law, Arthur Rivera, 81, had fallen in the bathroom.
According to the criminal information filed Jan. 31, 2017 in San Miguel District Court, Ruth Rivera allegedly stole $79,300 from Arthur Rivera between June 28, 2016 and December 28, 2016.
Rivera had been scheduled to to take a plea on Oct. 1, 2018, but she was found dead before then from what authorities said was a suicide.
The incident
On Dec. 28, 2016, Ruth Rivera called 911 and said her father-in-law had fallen and she needed help getting him up. When El Pueblo Fire Department firefighters got to the trailer, they found it was filled with smoke and started opening the windows. They found Arthur Rivera on the ground in the bathroom, with a large amount of blood around his body. They covered him with a blanket, State Police Agent Hector Vaciowrote in an affidavit for an arrest warrant.
Ruth Rivera had been Arthur Rivera’s caretaker since 2011. She had experience taking care of her elderly father before he died, but she allegedly described not wanting to take care of her father-in-law.
Ruth Rivera
“NMSP Officer (M.) Velasquez observed a stove inside the residence, which appeared to have damage from an explosion/fire,” Vacio wrote.
Vacio then spoke with Richard Bodell and Edward Madrid who responded to Ruth Rivera’s 911 call. They said there was a lot of smoke in the house and they had to open the windows.
Just before midnight the same day, Vacio went to the Christus St. Vincent’s Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe to speak to Ruth Rivera.
“Ms. Rivera advised she went to work at her father-in-law’s residence since she is his primary caretaker,” Vacio wrote. “Ms. Rivera made breakfast for him and later in the day she remembered him going to the restroom. As he was in the restroom she was cooking food on the stove.”
She allegedly told Vacio that she went to the bathroom after she heard a crashing or thumping noise from the bathroom.
“Ms. Rivera explained the door to the restroom was closed and she began pounding on the door but didn’t know if Arthur was hearing her,” Vacio wrote. “She stated she heard Arthur say ‘ayudame’ (‘help me’) and she went inside the restroom using another door via the closet.”
Inside, she allegedly said she saw Arthur Rivera on the ground with his head near the toilet and blood coming from his mouth. She allegedly tried to pick him up but found that she could not.
“Ms. Rivera left the residence and went to the street to flag individuals down in order to assist her to pick Arthur up,” Vacio wrote. “She does not remember turning the stove off and when she went back to the trailer there was smoke inside of the trailer.”
Vacio asked for River to hand over the clothing she had been wearing that day, which she did, in two plastic bags. Vacio noticed the clothes were damp and he wrote that this meant it appeared someone tried to remove “biological samples/stain” from the clothing by washing or wetting them. Her shirt was missing from the bags.
“The paramedic also observed Ruth Rivera’s clothes were damp,” Vacio wrote. “It is reasonably believed that Ms. Rivera washed/removed any biological samples/stains she had with intent to remove/destroy evidence.”
After getting a search warrant, the State Police Crime Scene team scoured the trailer. and found a silver knife blade and separately, on the stove, the knife handle. Both appeared to have blood on them.
When they first examined Arthur Rivera’s body, they found 17 wounds on his upper chest, face and head.
Later, at the autopsy on Dec. 30, 2016, a pathologist found 15 stab or “incise type” wounds on the man’s upper body and five stab or incise wounds to the head. There were another three incise wounds on his left hand, consistent with defensive injuries.
The following day, Dec. 29, 2016, Vacio spoke to Rivera again.
Ruth Rivera allegedly said didn’t really want to take care of her father-in-law but did so anyways.
She allegedly said in the second interview that she arrived at the house between 9:15 and 9:30 a.m., put groceries away, and cooked breakfast for him. After reading the newspaper and watching TV for two hours, Aruther Rivera went to the bathroom.
Again, she allegedly said she heard the thump or crashing noise and went to the bathroom through the closet.
“Ms. Rivera stated she placed her arns under his armpits and he began to put his weight on her and grab her by the shoulders,” Vacio wrote. “Ruth opened the other restroom door when she started smelling what appeared to smoke from the fire. Ms. Rivera stated she called 911 from her living room. The 911 call was received at 12:41 pm.”
Vacio told her that statement, different from her first that he was on the ground in a pool of blood, was not consistent with the evidence found at the scene. He told her to tell the truth.
“Ms. Rivera stated he was hurting her and he wasn’t understanding that she was trying to help him,” Vacio wrote. “She explained he was hurting her shoulders and back. Ms. Rivera stated she tried to run away from him and began to panic.”
Vacio initially charged her with an open count of murder and tampering with evidence.
On Jan. 31, 2017, Chief Deputy District Attorney Thomas Claytonfiled a criminal information in San Miguel District Court charging Ruth Rivera with an open count of first-degree murder, tampering with evidence, embezzlement over $20,000 and two counts of forgery over $20,000.
The criminal information, filed because she waived her right to a preliminary hearing,
The criminal information alleges that Ruth Rivera stole $79,300 from Arthur Rivera and forged two checks in his name. One check, allegedly forged on July 25, 2016, was for $29,000 and the other, allegedly forged on Aug. 8, 2016, was for $35,000.
She also allegedly forged two checks in Arthur Rivera’s name. The first allegedly forged check was handled on July 25, 2016, for $29,000 and the second was for $35,000. It was allegedly written on Aug. 8, 2016.
Suicide
According to the Las Vegas Optic, Ruth Rivera killed herself around Oct. 1, 2018, before she was set to enter into a plea for Arthur Rivera’s death. She was out on bail at the time.
Magistrate case number: M-14-FR-2015-00352 (File destroyed)
District case number: D-307-CR-2015-00523
Summary
On April 27, 2015, Daniel Hood, serving time for another murder, attacked and killed Frank Pauline by beating him three times in the back of the head with a rock while they were all out in the recreation yard at the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Las Cruces.
Pauline was transferred to New Mexico from Hawaii in 2012, where he was serving a sentence for the rape and killing of a woman in 1996.
Despite that conviction, the Hawaii Innocence Project was looking into his conviction and who the DNA found on the victim in that case belonged to, thanks to new technologies.
Hood himself was serving a 180 year sentence for first and second degree murder from two killings in 1996 in Minnesota.
District Judge Fernando Macias sentenced Hood to the maximum under the plea deal, 15 years, that he must serve after finishing out his 180-year Minnesota sentence.
The incident
Daniel Hood had a plan. He was going to hit his fellow inmate, Frank Pauline, in the back of the head with a rock, either severely injuring him or killing him, according to court documents.
“Mr. Hood claimed he killed Mr. Pauline because he thought Pauline was a snitch and he walked around like he owned the place,” Pierce wrote.
On April 27, 2015, he decided to move forward with the attack, Alvarado wrote, based on his interview with Hood. The interview, on May 7, 2015, lasted 43 minutes.
Hood was handcuffed during the interview, which led to his attorney filing a motion to suppress because Hood was not read his Miranda rights before the interview. That motion was dismissed by the judge and no appeal was filed.
At some point, prison guards search Hood’s cell and found blood on his shoes and his sweatshirt top.
“Mr. Hood said that he went out there with a plan,” Alvarado wrote. “As soon as he went out to the yard, he got a rock and placed it by the cement slab. Mr. Hood said that he waited.”
Hood waited for the shift change so there were only two guards in the area.
“Mr. Hood stated after he saw the correctional officers conduct their perimeter check, he looked for Mr. Pauline,” Alvarado wrote.
Hood found Pauline walking laps around the recreational yard. There were a lot of people around him, what he wanted.
“Mr. Hood stated he expected to be caught, but he did not want to make a scene and he did not want this to become a fight,” Alvarado wrote. “Mr. Hood stated he waited until Mr. Pauline was talking to other people that way he was not paying attention as he would be distracted.”
Hood told Alvarado it took him half a lap to catch up to Pauline, because he was walking fast.
“Mr. Hood said his intention was to come up behind him and hit him in the side of the head,” Alvarado wrote. “Mr. Hood stated Mr. Pauline was walking right around the light post when he hit him. Mr. Hood said Mr. Pauline dropped straight forward.”
Hood hit him twice more in the back of the head, threw the rock and kept on walking.
Hood told Alvarado that he had grabbed the rock from west side of the yard.
“Mr. Pauline said he took his green shirt off and wrapped the rock in it,” Alvarado wrote. “Mr. Hood stated the first hit made contact in the back of Mr. Pauline’s head. Mr. Hood stated he thinks Pauline was dead when he hit the ground. He then hit him twice more.”
His sole intention was complete.
“Mr. Hood added that he did not want Mr. Pauline to walk the line again,” Alvarado wrote.
Even after killing Pauline, he walked another full lap, passing the corpse.
“Mr. Hood said the whole purpose of this attack was to prevent Mr. Pauline from defending himself or fighting,” Alvarado wrote.
Hood told Alvarado that he did not hit Pauline as hard as he could because he did not want the blood to splatter.
“Mr. Hood recalls that when he hit Mr. Pauline, he saw Mr. Pauline’s head crack,” Alvarado wrote.
Another man, William Gentry Mater, was implicated in the killing but never charged.
A guard in the jail listened to Mater’s phone calls and heard him call an unidentified woman and ask her to look up Pauline on Google and he would call her back to see what she was able to find out.
“The unidentified female tells him that Mr. Pauline had several criminal charges when he was a minor,” Alvarado wrote. “She proceeds to tell Mr. Mater that Mr. Pauline also had charges for murdering and raping a 23 year old female. At this time Mr. Mater tell the female that those charges are bad.”
Hood was never read his Miranda rights, and was therefore unable to waive them. He was also handcuffed while talking to the two agents conducting the interview, Esparza wrote.
Esparza argued this was a custodial interrogation. To admit a custodial interview at trial, the defendant has to be advised of his Miranda rights, as decided in State v. Verdugo, 2007- NMCA-095, 142 N.M. 267,State v. Salazar, 1997-NMCA-044, 123 N.M. 778 andMiranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1996).
Further, the burden of proof that the Miranda rights were read is on the state, he wrote.
“The New Mexico Court of Appeals has found ‘unless or until such warnings and waiver are demonstrated by the prosecution at trial, no evidence obtained as a result of interrogation can be used against [the defendant],'” Esparza wrote.
The crux of Esparza’s argument was that Hood was “in custody” when he was interviewed. If someone is not “in custody” or arrested, that is, if someone can voluntarily leave, officers do not have to read the Miranda rights.
“Defendant was serving a life sentence in Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility,” Esparza wrote. “Defendant was handcuffed during the interrogation. Defendant was ordered to remove himself from his cell and speak with individuals who wanted to speak with him. Based on the totality of the circumstances here, Defendant was in custody for purposes of Miranda.”
Clark cited State v. Lopez, 2000-NMCA-069, 129 N.M. 352, 8 P.3d 154, where the New Mexico Court of Appeals decided that when it comes to the rights of prisoners, to decide if they are in a custodial interrogation depends on what additional restrains to their freedom of movement have been implemented.
“The court in Lopez did not find that handcuffing the suspect or interviewing in an office to be an ‘appreciable measure of pressure or
coercion beyond the usual prison environment,” Clark wrote. “See Conley, 779 F.2d at 973-94 (handcuffs were standard procedure for transporting inmates)’ Id at, 10. Similar to the facts in Lopez, the defendant was handcuffed and transported to an office at the prison, which is customary procedure in a correctional facility.”
In addition, Alvarado did not threaten or cajole Hood.
“Thus, based on the totality of the circumstances, the defendant was not subjected to any additional pressure of a kind and intensity that would render subsequent statements by the defendant to be the product of unfair coercion,” Clark wrote. “Therefore, the defendant was not in custodial interrogation under which Miranda warnings were required and his statements to Agent Alvarado were not tainted and thus, do not require suppression.”
“On balance, and in view of the totality of the circumstances, the hearing evidence did not establish that Defendant was questioned in a custodial setting for Miranda purposes,” Macias wrote. “Where either the “custody” or ‘interrogation’ prong is absent, the cautionary warnings formulated in Miranda are not required.”
[pdf-embedder url=”https://nmhomicide.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Daniel-Hood-Motion-to-supress.pdf” title=”Daniel Hood – Motion to supress”]
According to the plea, whatever sentence he received for both charges would run concurrent to each other, that is, they would both be served at the same time, but they would be served consecutive to Hood’s sentence in the 1996 murder.
That meant Hood would have to be eligible for release on the 1996 murder conviction before he would begin to serve the second-degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon charges.
On Jan. 13, 2014, Tammie Cessna was seen alive for the last time at the Super 8 motel in Moriarty, where her boyfriend, Mark Chavez, lived and worked, according to an affidavit for an arrest warrant written by State Police Agent Rodger Brunson.
Mark Chavez
She was reported as missing a day later and it was noted that she never came back, after dropping her children off for Karate practice that night.
Her minivan was found in the parking lot of the motel and officers with the Moriarty Police Department immediately seized it, sealed it and had it towed on Jan. 14, 2014, the day she was reported as missing.
Four days later, Brunson got a search warrant for the car and found her body inside, covered by clean clothes and an open sleeping bag.
“Heavy blunt force trauma was observed all over the body,” Brunson wrote. “In addition, some of the fingernails were broken, suggesting self-defense. The hair on the head of the body had been chopped off.”
The pathologist conducting the autopsy later determined that she died from a combination of blunt force trauma and strangulation.
State Police officers then secured a search warrant for Chavez’s room and interviewed him.
“They advised Mark of Ms. Cessna’s brutal murder and they believed he was involved, including chopping her hair,” Brunson wrote. “Mark replied multiple times, ‘I don’t cut hair,’ ‘I’m not a barber.’ He did not once deny being involved in her murder.”
When searching his room, State Police agents found that a portion of the carpet, “of considerable size,” was saturated in blood, to the padding below. Blood was also found on the walls and on the trashcan lid across the hallway from the room. They also found women’s clothing.
When confronted with the new evidence, Chavez told agents that the DNA found inside her would reveal who the killer was, that “It doesn’t matter” and that she was raped, and her rapist was the last person to be with her.
On June 12, the lab results came back for the blood found in the room. It was Cessna’s blood, and the DNA found under her fingernails was Chavez’s.
Swabs of her genitals showed no male DNA, refuting rape allegations.
Brunson wrote, based on another agent’s view of the case, that she was killed inside the residence, then moved into the vehicle post-mortem.
The plea deal
According to the plea deal signed Feb. 20, 2017, Chavez pleaded no contest to second-degree murder. Because it is a serious violent offense, Chavez must serve 85 percent of the sentence.
The court began the initial process of picking a jury the day of the plea deal and the potential jurors were excused by 10:23 a.m., according to hearing minutes.
As a part of the plea, three years of the maximum 15 year sentence were to be suspended, for a total sentence of 12 years. Additionally, the charge of tampering with evidence was dropped entirely.
Sentencing
Just a few hours after the plea deal, Chavez was sentenced to the 12 years because Cessna’s family had come in from California.
He was given credit for 811 days of time already served, or a little over two years, according to a minutes sheet from the sentencing.
Cessna’s daughter, Kirsten, said her mother would never be there for when she graduates college or be able to share in important milestones with her, and said Chavez showed no mercy.
Cessna’s aunt, Adele, said Cessna was a light in their lives that Chavez extinguished.
Cessna’s father, Bob, said that he was grateful for the remaining two children he had, while Cessna’s husband, John, said that he was a Christian, but could not forgive.
See the case files, including the State Police investigation reports, on Google Drive or on Document Cloud
State Police officers found Jenio Berdoza, 39, had been hit by a vehicle that fled from the scene, on U.S. Highway 82, near mile post 80, State Police Officer Ray Wilson wrote in a press release.
