Published 10/23/08
The Hernandez man who was taken to St. Vincent Hospital last week with a life-threatening head wound died Oct. 15, according to the state Office of the Medical Investigator.
Bobby Rodriguez, 51, may have been hit on the head with a pan, but the cause of his death will not be determined until numerous tests, including an examination of his brain tissue, have been performed, Office records technician Anthony Cervantes said.
Rio Arriba County Sheriff Joe Mascareñas, whose agency is investigating the death, said last week the SUN jumped the gun in describing Rodriguez as a beating victim.
“The guy probably fell down because he was drunk,” Mascareñas said.
However, St. Vincent Hospital contacted State Police Oct. 13 after receiving Rodriguez as a patient, saying that from a medical standpoint, if Rodriguez died, it would be a murder case. Hospital staff asked State Police to investigate what happened to Rodriguez, after the Sheriff’s Department said they were “too busy with other calls” and only offered to follow up the case the next morning. Rodriguez’s girlfriend also told 911 dispatchers it appeared he had been beaten.
Mascareñas said part-time Sheriff’s department detective Wayne Salazar is helping deputy Billy Merrifield with the investigation. Merrifield has interviewed the individuals who last saw Rodriguez before his injury, when they dropped him off at his Hernandez house, Mascareñas said.
Mascareñas said it is believed Rodriguez received the injury at his house.
Salazar said there are three possible theories for what caused Rodriguez’s death. He may have been struck with a blunt instrument; he may have fallen; or he may have fallen and been assaulted, Salazar said.
No suspects have been named in the case.
The day after Rodriguez received his injury, Merrifield was placed in charge of investigating the incident. Merrifield was hired as an uncertified deputy in April of this year and has until April 2009 to complete his Law Enforcement Academy certification program. Merrifield was rejected by the Academy Board last month, however. Although Mascareñas has said Merrifield appealed the decision, Department of Public Safety spokesman Peter Olson said Oct. 17 that Merrifield’s attorney has not filed an appeal.
One of Rodriguez’s North Prince Drive neighbors, who did not want her name published, said Rodriguez had lived at the house for 38 years, adding that his girlfriend Kimberly Sandlin does not live there. Sandlin placed the 911 call Oct. 13 after finding Rodriguez lying outside his house, bleeding from the head injury and an eye injury.