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Sunday, September 19, 1999
Fallen Officers
Since the turn of the century, more than 60 law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty in New Mexico. This list does not include those killed outside the state or who died in accidents or of natural causes.
* AUG. 28, 1904 -- Silver City Marshal William Harvey Kilburn and Constable Perfecto Rodriguez were shot trying to subdue two drunken cowboys.
* APRIL 7, 1907 -- Roosevelt County Sheriff Deputy William Tipton was shot during a fight with another officer who had been drinking.
* MAY 26, 1911 -- Roswell City Marshal Roy Woofter was shot during a bootlegging investigation.
* JAN. 6, 1912 -- Albuquerque police officer Lewis "Alex" Knapp was shot while making an arrest in Albuquerque.
* FEB. 20, 1916 -- Luna County Sheriff Dwight B. Stephens was shot attempting to arrest five escapees from the jail in Deming. He was part of a six-man posse who caught up with the escapees in a canyon outside Deming. He was killed in the shootout as was one of the escapees.
* JUNE 1922 -- Eddy County Sheriff George Batton died during a shootout with a wanted man in Hope, west of Artesia.
* APRIL 6, 1923 -- Raton Police Chief Oscar Davis was shot trying to stop two armed men.
* FEB. 13, 1923 -- Otero County Sheriff William "Bill" Rutherford was shot and killed trying to arrest two escaped robbers in Alamogordo.
* JAN. 29, 1930 -- Bernalillo County Deputy Emilio Candelaria was killed while serving a search warrant with prohibition agents at a ranch near Sedillo in the Sandia Mountains.
* AUG. 28, 1930 -- Federal Prohibition Agent Raymond Sutton Sr. disappeared on the road between Cimarron and Raton. His body was never found and a man charged with trying to pass Sutton's paycheck was acquitted at trial.
* SEPT. 15, 1930 -- Gallup Night Marshal Louis Silva was shot while questioning a burglary suspect.
* AUG. 2, 1931 -- Chaves County Sheriff Deputy Rufus "Rufe" Dunnahoo was shot while trying to disarm a thief near a wrecked car near Hagerman.
* FEB. 24, 1932 -- Lea County Deputy Sheriff Jim Clifton was shot trying to stop three men wanted in a Lovington hardware store robbery.
* JULY 14, 1933 -- Lincoln County Sheriff Deputy Tom Jones was shot attempting to arrest suspects in a robbery.
* JULY 17, 1933 -- Chaves County Deputy Barney Leonard was shot when officers attempted to make a felony arrest in Roswell.
* JULY 27, 1933 -- Torrance County Deputy William Meador was shot while attempting to arrest Jack Layman, a man with a long prison record, who had tried to stab another deputy. Layman was later arrested in Albuquerque.
* JAN. 6, 1934 -- Valencia County Deputy Andres Chavez was shot trying to break up a fight at a dance hall in Jarales, south of Belen.
* FEB. 3, 1934 -- Otero County Deputy James F. Haynes was trampled by a horse while trying to arrest its rider for endangering the lives of pedestrians. The cowboy was later acquitted of murder charges.
* APRIL 4, 1935 -- McKinley County Sheriff Mack R. Carmichael was shot while escorting two prisoners from the courthouse to the jail. The two were strikers and squatters, and a crowd of supporters wanted their release. A member of the crowd started shooting, and deputies fired back. Carmichael and two rioters were fatally shot and at least five others were injured.
* JUNE 1, 1937 -- FBI Agent Truett Eugene Rowe was shot trying to arrest an Oklahoma jail escapee near Gallup.
* OCT. 23, 1937 -- Union County Deputy J.V. Cogdill was beaten to death by Raymond Baum, who claimed at trial that he was drunk at the time. Baum served nine years and was later pardoned.
* DEC. 20, 1944 -- Taos Marshal Lee Penawas was shot trying to subdue a drunk at a local bar.
* FEB. 27, 1949 -- Santa Rosa Night Marshal Joe Gonzales was stabbed to death at a local lounge by a man whom he escorted home after arresting him for disturbing the peace.
* AUG. 11, 1950 -- Bernalillo Town Marshal Clemente Salazar was shot trying to break up a fight at a bar.
* JULY 7, 1951 -- Hobbs police officer Robert Butler was shot when confronting two drunken men on a city street.
* AUG. 15, 1951 -- Albuquerque police officer Ronald Redfern was struck and killed by a driver while directing traffic during a flash flood.
* MAY 30, 1952 -- Doña Ana County Sheriff Deputy Ralph Higginbottom was shot when attempting to stop a car in Hatch.
* APRIL 11, 1952 -- State Police officer Nash Garcia was shot in an ambush on Acoma Pueblo. He had been chasing a pickup when the offenders opened fire.
* DEC. 1, 1954 -- Albuquerque police officer Frank Sjolander was shot while investigating an armed robbery. He and another officer planned to ask questions at a boarding house on Arno. Before they knocked, two men opened fire. Both officers were hit but returned fire, killing one suspect. The other fled, leading to what some called the largest manhunt in Albuquerque history. Several days later, bloodhounds led officers to the suspect near Isleta.
* MAY 8, 1961 -- Jicarilla Tribal police officer Ishkoten Koteen was shot investigating a man stealing gas.
* MARCH 31, 1962 -- Farmington police officer Ben Herrera was shot attempting to arrest an armed man who had been drinking.
* SEPT. 11, 1965 -- Gallup Police Capt. John Arvizo was shot investigating a burglary.
* NOV. 9, 1966 -- Tucumcari Police Sgt. Jerry Wignall was shot at the police station by Bobby Gene Garcia as he attempted to free his brother from jail. Prior to going to the station, Garcia killed his sister-in-law. Garcia then shot Wignall before realizing his brother had been transferred to another jail. He took hostages and wounded another officer before surrendering.
* FEB. 16, 1967 -- Moriarty police officer Gilbert Montoya was shot while investigating a burglary.
* MARCH 26, 1969 -- Bernalillo County Deputy Julian Narvaez was shot during a felony traffic stop.
* NOV. 8, 1971 -- State Police Officer Robert Rosenbloom was gunned down beside Interstate 40 west of Albuquerque after he radioed that he was stopping a car for a routine check. Three weeks later, the three suspects hijacked a TWA flight at the Albuquerque Sunport and forced the pilots to fly it to Havana, Cuba. Two of the suspects still live in Cuba despite New Mexico's ongoing attempts to extradite them. The third reportedly died there in 1973.
* DEC. 1, 1971 -- Victor Breen, district attorney for the 10th Judicial District, was shot outside his Tucumcari home by a man whom he had committed to the State Hospital.
* MAY 2, 1972 -- Quay County Special Deputy Sheriff Travis Haynes was shot responding to a call to help two stranded motorists.
* JULY 18, 1973 -- Clayton Police Sgt. Emilio Mestas was shot as police attempted to serve arrest warrants on several teen-agers. The teens had been involved in an altercation and went to a local house, where there was a gathering of young people. When officers arrived, they were pelted with rocks and bottles. More officers were called in, including off-duty officer Mestas. Mestas was shot when he got out of his patrol car.
* AUG. 29, 1973 -- Alamogordo DPS Lt. James M. Vigil was shot during a traffic stop.
* AUG. 18, 1977 -- Bosque Farms police officer Charles Wasmer was shot during an investigation of a drunken-driving incident.
* NOV. 3, 1977 -- Questa police officer Ronald E. Shores was run over at a roadblock by a man driving a stolen car.
* AUG. 12, 1978 -- San Miguel County Sheriff Deputy Juan Leo Ortiz was shot while working on his farm. Investigators believe Ortiz was killed as an act of revenge for his law enforcement activities.
* JULY 25, 1979 -- Deming police officer Royce Bennet was killed during a shootout with a drunken-driving suspect.
* OCT. 7, 1979 -- Lincoln County Deputy Tommy Bedford was shot while questioning two burglary suspects.
* NOV. 19, 1979 -- State police officer David Coker was shot during a traffic stop on I-40 near Santa Rosa.
* APRIL 17, 1980 -- State police officer Richard Gomez was shot during a traffic stop in Rio Arriba County.
* JUNE 7, 1980 -- Santa Fe County Deputy Leo Gurule was shot investigating a domestic dispute.
* SEPT. 10, 1980 -- Albuquerque police officer Phil Chacon was shot while pursuing armed-robbery suspects. He was off-duty when he heard from witnesses that a local shoe store was being robbed. He was unarmed and dressed in civilian clothes when he was shot at Wyoming and Central.
* FEB. 28, 1981 -- Grant County Deputy Benjamin Green was shot investigating a prowler complaint north of Silver City.
* AUG. 23, 1982 -- Las Cruces Metro Narcotics Division Agent Robert Larson was shot by a suspected drug dealer during an undercover investigation.
* FEB. 24, 1983 -- Albuquerque police officer Gerald Cline was shot responding to a report of a man with a rifle at an East Central motel.
* FEB. 1, 1985 -- State Police officer Manny Olivas was investigating a car accident when he was struck by a drunken driver.
* FEB. 1, 1986 -- Albuquerque police officer Shawn McWethy was searching an alley for a suspicious man when he was shot. Vincent Paul Candelaria was charged but two trials ended with hung juries. He later pleaded no contest to other, non-related charges.
* MARCH 5, 1986 -- State Police officer Sherman Toler was shot while searching a car stopped on I-40 for narcotics.
* FEB. 21, 1987 -- Albuquerque police officer John A. Carrillo was shot by Sandia Labs physicist Merrill Chamberlain after he invited Carrillo and another officer into his home to check on a domestic dispute call.
* MAY 7, 1988 -- Mountainair police officer Stephen Sandlin was found shot to death at the Mountainair Police Station. No determination of suicide or homicide has been made despite several investigations.
* JULY 13, 1988 -- Mesilla Town Deputy Marshal Thomas Richmond was shot during a traffic stop.
* JAN. 26, 1991 -- State pPolice officer Glen Huber and Rio Arriba County Sheriff Deputy Jerry Martinez were shot near Chimayo by Ricky Abeyta. Abeyta had already fatally shot his live-in girlfriend and four others before he confronted Martinez, who had arrived to serve a restraining order. Huber arrived with other officers, and was shot at long range. Abeyta was convicted and sentenced to more than 100 years.
* JULY 9, 1992 -- Farmington Community Service officer Vickie Chavez was shot while checking on vacationers' homes. She was the first female New Mexico peace officer killed in the line of duty.
* APRIL 8, 1994 -- San Ildefonso Acting Police Chief Issac Benjamin Martinez was shot while trying to arrest a man who had been firing a gun.
* MAY 27, 1994 -- Bernalillo County Sheriff Lt. William Sibrava was shot while attempting to arrest Stephen Mercer, who was being committed for a mental evaluation. While Mercer's father, state Sen. Joe Mercer, tried to talk him into surrendering, the younger Mercer started firing a gun. Sibrava and Sen. Mercer were fatally shot. Officers returned fire, and the younger Mercer was killed.
* JAN. 10, 1996 -- Veterans Affairs Medical Center police officer Horst "Woody" Woods was shot after a patient reported seeing a suspicious man in the parking lot of the center in Southeast Albuquerque. William L. Smith, 76, of Farmington was charged in the killing but a psychiatric evaluation found he was not competent to stand trial. He was committed to a federal prison hospital for further evaluation.
* FEB. 17, 1997 -- Navajo Tribal police officer Samuel Redhouse was shot east of Gallup by Richard Roy Smith, who was scheduled to begin serving a federal prison term the next day. Smith was then shot by Redhouse's fellow officers.
* MARCH 4, 1999 -- Sierra County Deputy Kelly Fay Clark was shot while transporting an inmate to the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility near Grants. The inmate, Michael Archuleta, 21, has been charged in the case.
This list is based on news accounts and the book, "New Mexico's Finest: Peace Officers Killed in The Line of Duty 1847 to 1996," by Don Bullis and published by the N.M. Department of Public Safety. Bullis continues his research, looking for slain officers left off this list.
Also of interest: N.M. State Police Association memorial site, nmstatepoliceassoc.org/memorial.htm
2000 
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