A Nambé woman who was killed early Tuesday appears to have been stabbed about 20 times, law enforcement officials told the Albuquerque Journal on Wednesday.

Betty Rutigliano, 68, who worked as a poker dealer at the Cities of Gold Casino, died after sustaining wounds to the neck and back that caused massive bleeding, Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano said.

A weapon has not been identified yet, but Solano said investigators seized several items that could have been used, Solano told the paper.

And the suspect, Rutigliano's 44-year-old daughter Arin Jennifer Dilallo has given conflicting accounts of what happened and none of her accounts has amounted to a confession, the sheriff said.

So investigators are still unsure of what precipitated Rutigliano's death, the Journal reported.

"I don't think we ever will (know what happened)," Solano said. 

Arin Jennifer Dilallo, 44, was arrested Tuesday and charged with an open count of murder in the death of her mother, 68-year-old Betty Rutigliano, in their Nambé home, the Albuquerque Journal reported this morning.

Santa Fe County sheriff's deputies and medical personnel responded to Rutigliano's home around 2 a.m. Tuesday after receiving a call that the mother was bleeding and unresponsive, but they were unable to revive Rutigliano, the Journal reported.

The mother had at least two wounds to her neck, reportedly caused by a sharp object, that caused massive bleeding, Sheriff Greg Solano told the Journal.

"The injuries are consistent with either an attack or a struggle," Solano said.

Dilallo and her 18-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter lived at Rutigliano's home and were present when deputies arrived early Tuesday, the Journal reported.

The daughter and grandchildren were questioned throughout the day and Dilallo was placed under arrest at 4:50 p.m., but investigators were still trying to determine a motive, the paper said.

Dilallo's criminal history includes a charge of resisting an officer to which she pleaded no contest in January 2007 and a restraining order filed against her in a separate June 2006 incident, according to online court records.

1:25pm 5/6/08 -- Nambe Woman's Death Believed a Homicide: Betty Rutigliano, 68, found with "some kind of laceration" on her neck around 2 a.m.

Santa Fe County investigators believe a 68-year-old Nambé woman whose body was found in her home early this morning is the victim of a homicide, The New Mexican newspaper is reporting on its Web site.

"I can't imagine this isn't a homicide," Sheriff Greg Solano told The New Mexican. "The injuries are consistent with a homicide."

Betty Rutigliano was found around 2 a.m. with "some kind of laceration" on her neck and was pronounced dead at the scene, Solano told the paper.

Family members, including Rutigliano's adult daughter and two juveniles believed to be her grandchildren, were at the home when deputies arrived, but it wasn't known whether they were present when Rutigliano was injured, The New Mexican reported.

Frank Demollii, general counsel for Pojoaque Pueblo, confirmed that Rutigliano was an employee of the Cities of Gold Casino but had no further comment, the paper said.

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