Joseph Atencio
Española
• Date: Jan. 31, 2003
• Victim: Atencio, 30, got into a fight outside of Walgreens. He returned home complaining of a headache and decided to take a bath. The next morning he was found dead inside the bathtub. A preliminary autopsy finding stated Atencio died of a massive brain hemorrhage.
• Suspect: Police obtained an arrest warrant for Martin Arreola after Atencio’s relatives said Arreola jumped him outside of Walgreens. Arreola, 41, who may also be known as Martine Corona, was indicted in May 2003 on an open count of murder for Atencio’s death.
• Notes: Police were told that an acquiantance of Atencio checked on him throughout the night.
• Status: Chief Deputy District Attorney A.J. Salazar said there is an outstanding warrant for the arrest of Arreola, who is believed to have fled to Mexico. Although he could not be extradited back to face the charges, there is the possibility, if he was located, that Arreola could be prosecuted in Mexico, Salazar said. There are no other suspects in Atencio’s murder.
Harold Gallegos
Española
• Date: May 27, 2007
• Victim: Gallegos, 40, died after his wife’s cousin intervened in a domestic dispute between him and his wife. Gallegos was allegedly punching his wife in bed, and the cousin wrestled Gallegos off her and “choked him out,” according to the police report. His wife and her cousin were the last people to see Gallegos alive, but unconscious, around midnight, when they left the house to avoid being attacked when he woke up. When they returned to the house the next morning to pick up some clothes, Gallegos was dead, lying in the same position as when they left. The Office of the Medical Investigator ruled Gallegos’ death a homicide, describing the official cause as “physical restraint.” The more detailed opinion states Gallegos was smothered or unable to breathe, and showed physiological signs that point to suffocation.
• Suspect: Diego Fong, 25, told police he was staying with the couple at Gallegos’ wife’s request when he heard Gallegos punching or slapping his wife, who is Fong’s cousin, then heard her yelling. Fong told police he ran into the bedroom, wrestled Gallegos, and ended up grabbing him in a choke hold, pulling him off the bed, and holding him down until he lost consciousness. Fong believed Gallegos was breathing when he and Gallegos’ wife left the house, he told police. Fong said he was certain when they found Gallegos dead, he was lying in the exact same position they had left him in.
• Notes: Gallegos was charged with battery on a household member, battery, and false imprisonment in Rio Arriba Magistrate Court in 2006 after allegedly holding his wife against her will at their house for three days, then becoming violent when she escaped to the neighbor’s house, according to a previous SUN report. The charges were never turned over to a higher court for prosecution, however.
• Status: Fong was indicted by a Rio Arriba County grand jury Aug. 6.
Michael Garcia
Española
• Date: April 14, 2004
• Victim: Garcia, 20, of Ojo Caliente, arrived at Española Hospital with stab wounds to the neck, face and torso. The man who brought Garcia to the hospital met him earlier that night when he gave Garcia and another man a ride to a party on Española’s westside. Garcia tried to intervene in a fight when he was stabbed, according to a police report.
• Suspect: Police arrested Maxwell Padilla, who was 26 at the time, after he answered the door covered in blood the night of the murder and several witnesses said he stabbed Garcia. Padilla was charged with aggravated battery and murder, but the charges were dropped after DNA tests revealed the blood found on Padilla was his own. Española Police Sgt. Christian Lopez said the stabbing took place in front of Padilla’s house, and blood found outside the house did turn out to belong to Garcia. The case fell apart because then-Assistant District Attorney Earl Rhoads said Española Police illegally processed the crime scene without a warrant, Lopez said. Lopez said the Department followed that procedure under the advice of Assistant District Attorney Alex Corwin. Corwin did not return a call for comment.
• Notes: After Padilla was cleared of the charges, he sued the Rio Grande SUN Aug. 18, 2005, claiming false imprisonment, reckless endangerment, mental anguish, defamation of character, libel and slander. The SUN answered the claim, filed in Lea County, denying any wrongdoing. Padilla never answered the plaintiff’s response and no further action has resulted.
• Status: There are no other suspects in the case, and Padilla could still be prosecuted for Garcia’s murder, Lopez said.
Jose Luis
Mojica Gutierrez
Ojo Caliente
• Date: May 29, 2006
• Victim: Gutierrez, a Mexican immigrant, was fatally shot in the stomach a few days after moving into an Ojo Caliente apartment complex typically rented by immigrants working at Ojo Caliente Hot Springs.
• Suspect: Police are attempting to locate a suspect by the name of Maria Garcia, 46, believed to be Gutierrez’s girlfriend, whom a witness saw allegedly disposing of the murder weapon. The gun was recovered from the location identified by the witness, State Police Sgt. Chris Valdez said.
• Notes: Several different forms of identification with different dates of birth for Gutierrez were found in his car.
• Status: Valdez said the District Attorney’s office did not approve an arrest warrant for Garcia. Prosecutor David Foster did not return calls for comment. State Police are encouraging anyone with information about Gutierrez’s murder to contact them.
Rhonda Gutierrez
Chama
• Date: Oct. 30, 2005
• Victim: Gutierrez, 28, was shot three times, in the head, cheek, and shoulder. Her body was discovered in her bedroom by her grandfather. Her ex-husband, Harold Ulibarri, drove her to Pueblo del Norte medical clinic, where she was pronounced dead. Gutierrez was a Rio Arriba County employee and a former salutatorian at Escalante High School.
• Suspect: Ulibarri, 32, was in the house where he and Gutierrez formerly were living together around the time of her murder. Before her body was discovered, he left the house briefly, then returned and told Gutierrez’s grandfather to wake her. Statements Ulibarri made to police and paramedics, suggesting he knew she was shot rather than stabbed before that information had been given to him, and anticipating that he would be going to jail for a long time, appeared to be incriminating. Ulibarri was convicted of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in September 2006, but motioned for a retrial, which state District Court Judge James Hall denied.
• Notes: Ulibarri appealed that decision in state Supreme Court, arguing that the evidence in the case did not support his conviction, and that members of the jury should have been removed because they were prejudicial.
•Status: The state entered a reply to Ulibarri’s arguments in May 2008, and a hearing on the case is scheduled for Aug. DATE .
Eddie Lee House
Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo
• Date: Sept. 27, 2005
• Victim: House, 30, died as a result of injuries and carbon monoxide inhalation he suffered when his house burned down. He had burns covering 95 percent of his body.
• Suspect: Victor Martinez, 42, was determined by the FBI to be the last person who saw House alive. The day before House’s death, Martinez allegedly went to his house to buy drugs, and the pair argued after House accused Martinez of stealing a television. House allegedly pulled a gun on Martinez, and Martinez fled, according to court documents. The FBI’s investigation determined Martinez and another person did steal the TV. Martinez first denied setting the fire, then said he went back to House’s house to confront him and flicked a cigarette into the house, lighting a couch on fire. After agents searched his home and vehicle for evidence tying him to the crime, Martinez was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, being a felon in possession of ammunition and burglary of a dwelling on Indian land. Martinez pleaded guilty to the first two charges and the third was dismissed in September 2006. He was sentenced to X years in prison, court documents state CHECK.
• Notes: The Office of the Medical Investigator’s report determined House’s death was a homicide, and noted that evidence indicated the fire was set deliberately.
• Status: U.S. Attorney Louis Valencia said he could not comment on the reasons Martinez was not charged with causing House’s death, or whether any other suspects are being investigated in the case. Valencia said the homicide investigation is ongoing, and Martinez could still be charged for House’s murder.
Baltazar Martinez
El Rito
• Date: May 10, 2007
• Victim: Martinez, 62, a one-time Tierra Amarilla Courthouse Raider and artist, died from a gunshot wound to his back on the porch of an El Rito house where he was living with his girlfriend, Corine Archuleta.
• Suspect: Four people witnessed Tony Herrera, 62, shoot Martinez first in the arm and then in the back during a confrontation over an ongoing dispute regarding ownership of the El Rito property, according to court documents. Herrera came over to the house after hearing that two people were looking at a tractor on the property that Herrera felt belonged to him. Martinez came out of the house after Herrera told the two people to leave, and Herrera shot him, later claiming he feared Martinez had a knife. On May 27, a jury in state District Court acquitted Herrera of first and second degree murder and attempted first degree murder, but were hung (10 for acquittal, two for conviction) on the lesser voluntary manslaughter charge.
• Notes: Defense attorney Tony Scarborough tried to get evidence of Martinez’s participation in the Tierra Amarilla Courthouse raid admitted during the trial, to show why Herrera felt threatened by Martinez. Judge Timothy Garcia refused to allow it into evidence.
• Status: Herrera’s retrial on the charge of voluntary manslaughter has yet to be scheduled, but will likely go forward in August, Assistant District Attorney Tim Hasson said.
Dion Joe Martinez
Lyden
• Date: May 8, 2008
• Victim: Martinez, 16 months, died of an overdose of a mixture of drugs. Toxicology analysis showed cocaine, alcohol, levorphanol (an opioid pain reliever), caffeine, an antihistamine, and ibuprofen were present in his blood, liver, and stomach. He was rushed to the hospital by his parents, who were intercepted by an ambulance, after the parents found him unresponsive. He was reportedly sick for about two days and having trouble sleeping until May 7 at about 5 a.m. when he finally fell asleep. At 2 p.m. May 8, he was found unresponsive and already cold. It was determined that he died about two hours before his parents discovered him.
• Suspect: Although Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s deputies initially reported no signs of foul play and no signs of trauma, the case is being considered a homicide because of the Office of the Medical Investigator’s findings. No one has been charged in the case.
• Status: Martinez’s parents, Joseph Martinez, 26, and Rose Garcia, 26, have not been officially named suspects, but the case was forwarded to the child abuse division of the District Attorney’s office, Chief Deputy District Attorney A.J. Salazar.
Moises Martinez
Chimayó
• Date: Feb. 22, 2008
• Victim: Martinez, 25, was shot in the chest at a house in Chimayó and died on the way to Española Hospital.
• Suspect: According to several witnesses present during the incident, Julio Gurule, 19, shot Martinez with a 30-30 lever action rifle when he and Martinez were examining the newly-purchased weapon. Gurule initially told police Martinez accidentally shot himself on State Road 76 while showing someone else the rifle. After police told Gurule other witnesses didn’t corroborate that story, he admitted accidentally shooting Martinez, according to court documents.
• Notes: Approximately 24 grams of cocaine and 22 grams of heroin were found inside the Rio Arriba County Road 95 house where Martinez was shot. The narcotics aspect of the case was forwarded to the District Attorney’s office for possible prosecution, but no charges have been filed against the homeowner, Jenna Ortiz, Gurule, or the four witnesses to Martinez’s killing. Chief Deputy District Attorney A.J. Salazar said no one will be charged for the drugs, as no one was arrested in connection with them.
• Status: Gurule was charged only with involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence and was bonded out on a $5,000 bail Feb. 25. On May 2, Salazar dismissed the case out of Rio Arriba Magistrate Court without prejudice. Salazar said he intends to bring the case before a state District Court judge in a preliminary hearing at some future date.
Yvonne Martinez
Guachupange
• Date: Oct. 11, 2003
• Victim: Martinez, 37, was fatally shot in the head and back. Two children riding an ATV found her body north of Española on federal Bureau of Land Management property. She was last seen alive Oct. 10, 2003, at the Ohkay Casino.
• Suspect: No one has been arrested in connection with the murder.
• Notes: Martinez’s was believed to have died about 13 hours before her body was found. Bruising was found on Martinez’s legs, arms, and hands, and one of her fingernails was torn, indicating a struggle took place. The leather jacket she was wearing had a star-shaped hole caused by a plastic covering called a Sabot being used over the projectile. Both of her gunshot wounds were through and through, with no projectile recovered, but fragments of metal and plastic were found in the head wound.
• Status: State Police Sgt. Chris Valdez said the DNA of a suspect was submitted for crime lab testing in September 2007, but the results did not match DNA found on the victim. Currently, State Police are following up on another lead, but are encouraging anyone with information relating to the crime to contact them.
Michael Medina
Española
• Date: Feb. 19, 2007
• Victim: Medina, 53, had been visiting a friend at a South Kiva Lane residence, when he exited the house and was about to re-enter when the suspect allegedly stabbed him once in the heart with a steak knife. He left beind a son, daughter and wife.
• Suspect: April Lucero, 28, was charged with murder and tampering with evidence for allegedly stabbing Medina after the two drank together, and he refused to dance with her. Medina was at the house visiting a friend who was employed as a caretaker for Lucero’s boyfriend’s mother, a police report states. Medina left the house at the request of his friend, but attempted to come back inside after a few minutes. Lucero allegedly skipped into the kitchen, retrievved a kitchen knife, and skipped to the front door, opened it, and stabbed Medina, according to police. • Notes: Lucero had allegedly been drinking since 8 a.m. the morning of Medina’s murder. She was also evaluated for competency to stand trial at the end of 2007 because of numerous mental health issues, Assistant District Attorney Lloyd Drager said.
• Status: In January 2008, Lucero was found incompetent to stand trial by Dr. Susan Cave, a Santa Fe clinical psychiatrist. She is being held at a secure state mental hospital in Las Vegas for a two-year period, after which she will be re-evaluated. Her case could eventually go to court if she is found to have gained competency at any point; otherwise, Lucero could be held at the facility for the same amount of time she would have received if she had been convicted of the charges she faces: murder and tampering with evidence.
Patty Medina
Española
• Date: July 24, 2007
• Victim: Medina, 44, died from complications of a stab wound she received on approximately July 9. She was not hospitalized until late July 10 and was eventually transferred from Espanola Hospital to Lovelace Hospital in Albuquerque, where she died.
• Suspect: Sixto Maestas, 47, is the only person Española Police have ever named as a suspect. Medina’s daughter Desiree Salazar told police Maestas was at a Lower San Pedro Road apartment where the two had been living together when Salazar found Medina sitting on the couch, covered in blood. Maestas told the SUN he was present when Salazar picked Medina up, but knew nothing about a stabbing, and thought Salazar was taking Medina shopping. Police couldn’t locate Maestas for questioning immediately after the incident, but he was arrested July 25, 2007, for failure to appear on a DUI offense, according to court documents. He was released 90 days later, having never been questioned about Medina’s death, according to police.
• Notes: When Medina was being treated in the hospital, Española Police Sgt. Christian Lopez said her case would be treated as a homicide if she died. After her death, Lopez said police were awaiting the state Office of the Medical Investigator’s findings on her cause and manner of death before taking the investigation further. After the Office issued its opinion that Medina had in fact been murdered, Lopez said that opinion didn’t obligate police to classify her death the same way.
z Lopez said whether or not Medina’s death is a homicide is still in question. There is still only one suspect in the case, Lopez said, but he would not confirm whether it is Maestas. Lopez said he has conducted interviews of people with knowledge of the incident, but is awaiting more evidence before determining whether to consider Medina’s death a murder.
Natasha Mondragon
Alcalde
• Date: April 13, 2008
• Victim: Mondragon, 19, was killed in a rollover accident on State Road 68 when another car struck hers and drove her off the road into a yard in Alcalde, according to the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Department. She died on the scene from massive head injuries.
• Suspect: Jose Escobar Herrera, 22, originally of Mexico, was identified as Mondragon’s boyfriend. He was allegedly driving a Toyota pickup that struck Mondragon’s Toyota Camry and ran it off the road. Herrera told Sheriff’s deputies he had been with Mondragon earlier in the evening in Taos, and Mondragon left to return to her home in Alcalde. However, Herrera said instead of Mondragon going home alone, the couple met at Embudo Station restaurant and decided Herrera would return to Mondragon’s house with her. Herrera admitted to drinking three beers in Taos and one on the road, and a blood alcohol test revealed he was legally drunk, according to court documents. Herrera was indicted May 15 with homicide by vehicle for Mondragon’s death.
• Notes: Herrera initially lied to deputies about drinking before and while driving, and about his relationship to the victim, court documents state. At first Herrera allegedly denied knowing the victim or being her boyfriend before finally admitting to the deputies his relationship to Mondragon.
• Status: Herrera is scheduled for a pretrial conference Sept. 11 in state District Court. He is being held at Rio Arriba County Jail on a $500,000-cash only bond.
Aiden Montalvo
Cordova
• Date: May 1, 2008
• Victim: Aiden Montalvo, 17 months old, was shot in the heart with a semiautomatic assault rifle in the kitchen of his Cordova home.
• Suspect: Joel “J.D.” Montalvo, 26, told police he accidentally shot his only son, the youngest of his five children, while tinkering with an AR-15 rifle, court documents state. Montalvo said he brought the rifle inside the home from a storage shed to prepare it for hunting or target practice the next day, and left it on the kitchen floor, where Aiden Montalvo found it. Montalvo picked it up to make sure it wasn’t loaded, unconsciously placed a round in the magazine, and pulled the trigger, fatally wounding his son, court documents state. He was charged with child abuse resulting in death and released on a $2,500 bond May 2 from Rio Arriba County Jail.
• Notes: The rifle was one of between five and 10 guns found throughout the house, according to State Police, none of which was ecured in a gun safe or with a trigger lock. Some of the weapons, but not all of them, were stored out of the children’s reach, according to police. Montalvo’s wife, Desiree Esquibel-Montalvo, who was at a meeting at Mountain View Elementary School when Aiden was shot, told police she did know of her husband’s plans to go hunting or target shooting the following day. Instead she told police he had planned to accompany his three oldest girls on a school field trip on that day.
• Status: Montalvo has yet to be indicted on the charges, and Chief Deputy District Attorney A.J. Salazar said further investigation has to be conducted on the case before it can be brought before a grand jury or preliminary hearing.
Arturo Rodriguez
Española
• Date: Dec. 18, 2005
• Victim: Rodriguez, 39, was found inside La Mexicanita, a store in Española, lying in a pool of blood two weeks after another Mexican store owner had been killed at his Española store. Rodriguez had been shot in the back of the head with a small-caliber weapon, according to police.
• Suspects: No one has been arrested in connection with the murder. Roger Vigil, of Chimayó, confessed to the murders of Rodriguez and Francisco Torres a few months after he was caught trying to rob numerous Santa Fe businesses. Police dismissed Vigil’s confession because he had no knowledge of the shootings.
• Notes: Though not originally considered a suspect, Rodriguez’s wife, Gloria Hanrahan, is a person of interest, partly because her ex-husband, Mitchell Hanrahan, was also murdered, in Santa Fe in 1995. Hanrahan had receipts proving she was in El Paso, Texas, buying merchandise for the store when Rodriguez was murdered.
• Status: Christopher Garcia, 31, was arrested by Santa Fe Police June 25 for the murder of Mitchell Hanrahan, in an alleged murder for hire scheme that may have been orchestrated by Gloria Hanrahan, according to Santa Fe Police. Although Garcia is not a suspect in Rodriguez’s murder, information provided by him and others being investigated in connection with Mitchell Hanrahan’s death is providing new leads on Rodriguez’s murder, Española Police Sgt. Christian Lopez said.
Betty Rutigliano
Nambé
• Date: May 6, 2008
• Victim: Rutigliano, 68, died as a result of 20 stab wounds to her head, upper body and chest, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department. She was found naked and yelling for help in her bedroom in the Nambé home where she lived with her daughter Arin Jennifer Dilallo and grandchildren Nick Dilallo and Kristi Dilallo.
• Suspect: Arin Jennifer Dilallo, 44, was covered with blood and standing over Rutigliano when her grandchildren responded to her cries for help, according to deputies. Dilallo was charged with first-degree murder and is being held on $1,000,000 at Santa Fe County Jail, court documents state.
• Notes: Dilallo was standing at the kitchen sink, topless, washing her hands, when Pojoaque Tribal Police arrived on the scene, according to documents. She allegedly appeared lethargic and said she had just taken a Clonazepam, and said if police were looking for a knife, they would find it in the dishwasher. She claimed to have heard Rutigliano calling for help around 1:30 a.m. and found her lying on her back in bed, bleeding, deputies said. Nick Dilallo told Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies that Dilallo had mental problems, was “like another child,” and argued with Rutigliano regularly about money.
• Status: Dilallo will be arraigned in state District Court Aug. 15 CHECK.
Michael Rutkowski
Rio Chama
• Date: April 27, 2007
• Victim: Rutkowski, 44, was fatally struck by a truck on Highway 84 in Rio Chama while trying to help a woman who was being assaulted by her boyfriend. Rutkowski was a Los Alamos National Laboratory fiber optics specialist.
• Suspect: Chris Branch, 24, was convicted of first-degree murder March 27 for killing Rutkowski. Prior to the murder, Branch and his girlfriend, Contessa Salazar, 26, were fighting on the side of the road when Branch knocked her under his truck with the open truck door while she was walking alongside it, according to court testimony. Salazar was five months pregnant with the couple’s child at the time. Rutkowski and two truckers saw Salazar limping from the resulting leg injury on the side of the road and stopped to intervene when Branch struck Rutkowski with his truck. In addition to murder, Branch was convicted of aggravated battery on a household member for attacking Salazar, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for threatening the truckers with his truck and aggravated fleeing a police officer for leading State Police on a car chase through an arroyo.
• Notes: Branch was sentenced to life in prison, plus 12 and one-half years on the other four felony charges. Branch will be eligible for parole after 30 years in prison,
• Status: Branch’s attorney, Stephen Aarons, requested a complete transcript of Branch’s trial immediately after its conclusion, in anticipation of filing an appeal. Aarons said he may argue that prosecutor David Foster changed case theory on the murder mid-trial and brought Branch’s prior offenses in as evidence without notifying the defense in advance. Branch is currently serving his sentence at Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Los Lunas.
Cande Salazar
Española
• Date: April 11, 2005
• Victim: Salazar, 43, died of a severed carotid artery and multiple stab wounds to her face, neck and side. She is survived by two children and her mother and father.
• Suspect: Police charged Donald Ferran, 24, with the murder. But a hung jury resulted in a mistrial July 21, 2006. Jurors who voted to acquit felt the state did not provide compelling DNA evidence to convict Ferran. He was acquitted of the remaining murder charge by a second jury in April 2007.
• Notes: The jury foreman in Ferran’s retrial said the jury did not believe any of the witnesses. He also said plausible alternate scenarios for the murder were not eliminated by the investigation. Ferran’s mother Mildred Ferran pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with public records and two counts of intimating a witness in connection with the case.
• Status: Prosecutor Kit Ayala, who has since left the District Attorney’s office, said the state does not plan to charge anyone else with the murder.
Henry Silva
Santa Clara Pueblo
• Date: Aug. 23, 2007
• Victim: Silva, 58, was found deceased under a bridge over the Santa Cruz river on Riverside Drive by a San Pedro resident who said he was walking in the area. The ground around Silva’s body had been disturbed, indicating a struggle had taken place and the body had been turned over after he died, a state Office of the Medical Investigator report states. The cause of death was undetermined, but five human bite marks were found on his nose, chin, neck and shoulder. There was also evidence of blunt force injuries to his head in two places. Although none of the injuries by itself was enough to cause death, the autopsy results state, their presence and the circumstances of Silva’s death were evidence he was murdered, the report states.
• Suspect: The FBI, which is investigating the case, has not indicated that there are any suspects in the case.
• Notes: An artist’s composite of a person of interest in the case, last seen with Silva around Aug. 20, 2007, was circulated to encourage the person come forward for questioning. The subject’s name was not released.
• Status: No arrests have been made in the case.
Joshua St. Martin
Chimayó
• Date: July 12, 2008
• Victim: St. Martin, 20, a Velarde Volunteer firefighter, died from a single stab wound to the right side of his chest on Rio Arriba County Road 99, in front of the house where he was living, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department. Although a neighbor tried to administer CPR, St. Martin died before paramedics arrived.
• Suspect: Witnesses saw Patrick Martinez, 28, stab St. Martin with the knife after the two argued about St. Martin’s ATV, according to deputies. Family members and Martinez told deputies Martinez repaired the vehicle, but St. Martin demanded it back without paying for the repairs. St. Martin’s girlfriend told the SUN Martinez borrowed the vehicle all day without permission, and Martinez returned and started to fight St. Martin after hearing he planned to report the ATV as stolen. Martinez was charged with an open count of murder and is being held at the Rio Arriba County Jail on a $1 million bond.
• Notes: St. Martin’s girlfriend said she believed Martinez’s violent behavior was caused by medication he borrowed from the person it was prescribed to. Prescription medication, along with two pocket knives, was found on Martinez when he was arrested, about three hours after St. Martin’s death. Martinez left the crime scene as deputies were arriving, St. Martin’s girlfriend said, and was later found walking on State Road 76 in La Puebla.
• Status: A Santa Fe County Magistrate Court judge signed off on an enlargement of the 10-day period July 23 to indict Martinez before he must be released from custody by law. He had not been indicted as of Tuesday.
Francisco Torres
Española
• Date: Dec. 3, 2005
• Victim: Torres, 42, was shot three times in the alley beside his novelty store on Paseo de Oñate in Española.
• Suspects: No one has been arrested in connection with the murder. A confidential informant told Española Police Sgt. Christian Lopez that there were two possible suspects.
• Notes: Torres family shut down the store in the weeks following his murder. No arrests have ever been made in the case. Although the case was originally believed to be related to the murder of Arturo Palacio Rodriguez, Lopez said the similarities are now believed to be superficial.
• Status: The case is open pending further evidence, Lopez said.
Helen Valdez
El Guache
• Date: Dec. 14, 2004
• Victim: Valdez, 80, was discovered missing from her home Dec. 15, 2004, and her body was found on the side of 31-Mile Road April 27, 2005 with the help of an informant. Valdez was a decorated Senior Olympian with a large extended family of children and grandchildren who lived in New Mexico and California.
• Suspects: Valdez’s grandson Joshua Garcia, 32, is the only person who has ever been charged in Valdez’s death. He was indicted shortly after Valdez’s body was found and informant Glenda Rodriguez told police Garcia confessed to her that he murdered Valdez over $20. Charges against Garcia were dropped in January 2006 after DNA evidence failed to connect him to the crime.
• Notes: Rodriguez raised suspicions she was involved in Valdez’s murder by giving police detailed information not only leading to Valdez’s body but describing the crime scene. She was never considered a suspect by police, however.
• Status: State Police and the District Attorney’s office haven’t formally communicated about the case since a meeting held a few days before the charges against Garcia were dismissed. In April 2007, Valdez’s family members sent the Attorney General a letter requesting they take over the investigation, saying disagreements between State Police and the District Attorney’s office had left it in limbo. The Attorney General’s office has declined to take up the case, and has said only a conflict of interest or a lack of resources could bring it into the case.