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These numbers do not include officer-involved shootings.
They include all other justifiable and accidental homicides.
s = denotes Sheriff’s Department case
u = denotes case is unsolved
Total County Homicides: 2007, 54; 2006, 52; 2005, 66; 2004, 52; 2003, 66; 2002, 64; 2001, 40; 2000, 57.
5 BCSD cases, 2 unsolved: 60 percent solve rate
49 APD cases, 14 unsolved: 71 percent solve rate
1, 2. Jan. 1: Friends Linda Gilkey, 47, and Nancy Davidson, 56, were found shot to death inside their stopped car in the 2300 block of Carlisle NE. The two were going home from a New Year’s party. Officers arrested Beau James Musacco, 32, in a nearby hotel. He was charged in connection with the killing of both women. Police suspect some sort of a road rage incident precipitated the killings.
u3. Jan. 5: A friend took Dewayne Dorris, 42, to the University of New Mexico Hospital after he had been shot in the back. Dorris later died. Police determined that Dorris was shot in a parking lot in the 6300 block of Indian School NE.
u4. Jan. 8: Alejandro Santoya, 48, was found dead inside his apartment in the 400 block of Pine SE. Investigators determined Santoya had not been seen for several days. When he was found by a friend, Santoya’s door was unlocked.
5. Jan. 24: Karl Ellis, 39, was found dead with a gunshot wound to his head in the 500 block of Second NW. Investigators arrested Paul Johnson, 45, in connection with the shooting. Police said Johnson drove up to Ellis and started chasing him while calling him a “rat.” When Johnson caught up to Ellis, he shot him, police said. Police said they believe the killing was drug related. Johnson’s 9-year-old daughter and girlfriend were inside the car.
6. Feb. 16: Arthur Dominguez, 21, died after getting into a confrontation with bouncers at Cowboy’s Night Club. Investigators determined Dominguez was intoxicated when he snuck into the club after being denied access. The bouncers saw Dominguez causing a “disturbance” and attempted to escort him out of the building. Dominguez then allegedly charged the bouncers and was taken to the ground and restrained. At some point, Dominguez stopped breathing and later died at University of New Mexico Hospital. Charges were not filed against the bouncers. Case was sent to the District Attorney’s office.
7. Feb. 19: Police found the burned body of Vincent Espinosa, 19, in the 6400 block of Paseo De Volcan NW. Espinosa had been reported missing more than two weeks earlier. Police determined that Espinosa was placed under a discarded couch and an accelerant was poured onto him and ignited. An autopsy revealed Espinosa had also been shot. Police arrested James Urioste, 26, Elias Urioste, 21, James Gordon, 26, Jose Sullivan, 18.
8. Feb. 26: Police were called to an apartment in the 300 block of Dallas SE and found Joseph Herrera, 21, holding the lifeless body of Marcus Lovings, 21. Investigators arrested Herrera after they determined that he had stabbed Lovings during an argument inside the apartment. The argument was over women, police said.
9. March 1: Police arrested Dario Fabian Mirabal, 21, after accusing him of stabbing Josh Bean, 26, to death during an argument over loud music. Investigators said Bean and some friends were having a party in their apartment in the 6500 block of Montgomery NE, when Mirabal, who lived below them, got angry and started arguing with them.
u10. March 4: Natalie Mendoza, 12, and her twin sister Olivia were shot inside their bedroom in the 1100 block of Makian NW during what police called a gang-related drive-by shooting. Olivia survived her injuries. Natalie was pronounced dead at University of New Mexico Hospital. No arrests have been made.
11. March 8: Dalila Romero-Juarez, 42, was shot to death as she was leaving work at Taco Bell in the 12900 block of Central SE. The restaurant had just closed. When police arrived, they found her body in a car parked next to the restaurant’s doors. Police made an arrest in the case. However, prosecutors dropped charges because they did not believe investigators had obtained enough evidence for prosecution. Police said they believed Romero-Juarez was shot during a robbery.
s,u12. March 15: Felipe Lucero, 23, was killed when a driver, suspected to be a female, ran over him after an altercation. Witnesses told police it appeared that Lucero had been in an altercation with an unknown man and a woman when he was run over in a parking lot at Isleta and Rio Bravo SW. No arrests have been made.
13. March 20: Johnny Gathright, 60, was stabbed to death during an argument inside a hotel in the 3200 block of Central SE. Police later arrested Jacob Robert Lynman, 21, and Richard Cress, 19, after one of them showed up at the hospital with cuts on their hand.
14. March 25: Police said Anthony Jim, 19, beat his uncle, Alfred Jim, 35, to death with a rock while the two were arguing in the 1200 block of San Mateo SE.
s,u15. March 30: Police find the partially decomposed body of Kattria Pacheco, 32,, along Interstate 40 near Cedar Crest. Pacheco was reported missing Feb. 12. Medical investigators were unable to determine how Pacheco died. No arrests have been made.
16. April 5: Brothers Martin and Melvin Martinez were found unconscious and badly beaten inside their apartment in the 200 block of Dallas NE. Both brothers were taken to the hospital, where Martin Martinez, 53, died. Police later arrested Raymond Padilla, 43, who they said beat the Martinez brothers over $30.
17. April 5: Police said David Lopez, 30, shot and killed Cyrus Yazzie, 24, while the two were arguing over marijuana in the 500 block of Polomas SE.
s,u18. April 9: Floyd Lopez, 26, was found on the street in front of a house in the 3900 block of Camino del Valle SW. Police said Lopez was shot to death. No arrests have been made.
19. April 12: Police find Michael Tsosie, 27, dead in the 3600 block of Wellesley NE. Investigators said Tsosie’s brother, Kevin, 19, is a suspect. They plan to present a case to a grand jury.
s 20. April 21: Deputies responded to a rescue call at a northwest Albuquerque home and found 14-month old Ethan Garcia unresponsive. He was taken to University of New Mexico Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An examination of the boy revealed that he was suffering from bruises throughout his body. Police arrested the boy’s mother, Juliana M. Garcia, 29, and her boyfriend Christopher Martens, 27.
21. April 24: Police find the body of Maurice Johnson, 19, lying in the middle of the street in the 500 block of Mesilla SE. A warrant was issued for Fredrick Williams, 18, charging him with an open count of murder. Williams remains at large. Witnesses told police the two had been in an argument before the shooting.
u22. May 2: Noriega Candido, 19, was struck by a Nissan Exterra in the 200 block of Avenida Cesar Chavez SE. Candido died 10 days later. Investigators determined Candido had gotten into an argument in the middle of the street with several occupants in the car that ran him over. During the argument, the driver hit Candido with the car, dragging him several feet before taking off.
u23. May 4: Police found Douglas Simpson Jr., 19, dead inside his apartment in the 1200 block of Ortiz SE. Investigators said Simpson was a key witness to the April 24 homicide of Maurice Johnson. Investigators have named Fredrick Williams, 18, who is wanted in connection with the Johnson homicide, as a suspect. The case has yet to be sent to the District Attorney’s office. Police said someone put a pillow over Simpson’s head and shot him. Williams has not been charged with Simpson’s death.
24. May 6: Josh Apodaca was stabbed while he breaking into the home of Steve Nunez in the 300 block of 49th NW. Police said Apodaca and another man broke into the home while Nunez was inside. Nunez grabbed a knife and stabbed Apodaca. Nunez did not know either of the men. Police ruled that Nunez was justified in stabbing Apodaca.
u25. May 9: Joe Gilbert Montoya, 59, who was shot in the head in 1989, died on Jan. 20. The Office of the Medical Investigator determined Montoya died as a result of the 18-year-old injury. He had been living in a nursing home since the shooting. Police said Montoya and Johnny Chavez were found shot in an empty lot where they had been sleeping in the 2500 block of Broadway NE. Chavez died that day. No arrests have been made.
u26. May 13: Police found the body of Mike Herrera behind a building in the 300 block of Commercial NE. Police said Herrera was homeless and had been involved in several confrontations with other homeless people before his death. Police said Herrera was beaten to death with a blunt object. No arrests have been made.
u27. May 17: Robert Blume, 27, was found shot to death outside his home in the 300 block of 49th NW. Police said Blume was a “major seller of narcotics” and had gone to get cigarettes from his car when he was shot. Police found “large quantities” of marijuana and crack cocaine inside Blume’s home.
28. May 20: Police said Vincent Cooper shot his sister, Vinette Rudell, multiple times inside her home in the 6100 block of Harper NE. Cooper was arrested and charged with an open count of murder.
29. June 24: Police found Guadalupe Garcia unconscious in a parking lot in the 1100 block of Goff SW. Investigators arrested Dennis Chavez. Police said Chavez beat Garcia with a steel pole during an argument.
u30. July 4: Saul Orozco was shot in the head during a confrontation between two groups of men in the 100 block of 47th SW. Police said the men were in two separate vehicles, one chasing the other, when an occupant of one of the vehicles fired a shot at the other vehicle, striking Orozco in the head. No arrests have been made.
31. July 5: Joseph Long was badly beaten inside his home in the 1600 block of Speakman SE. Long died three months later. Police have forwarded the case over to the District Attorney’s office naming Annie Beeman as a suspect. Beeman has yet to be indicted.
32. July 9: William Healey was shot during a drug deal in the 3400 block of Anderson SE, police said. Investigators arrested Christopher Franco.
s33. July 10: Charles “Bill” Alderson, 52, was found dead inside his home in the 800 block of Arenal SW. Police arrested Malachi Rangel, 17; his mother, Raquel Celine Gutierrez, 35; and Peter Paiz, 42. All three were charged with an open count of murder. Police said the three stole Alderson’s rifle and his computer. They were captured after one of Alderson’s relatives noticed that the suspects were logging on to Alderson’s America Online chat account.
34. July 15: Police say two groups of people were involved in a confrontation in the 1100 block of Griegos NW when Ben Montoya got a rifle out of his home and fired at a fleeing vehicle containing rival gang members. One of the bullets struck Diego Delgado in the head, killing him. Montoya was charged with an open count of murder.
s35. July 26: Norma Gutierrez de Moya, 37, was killed while walking her dog on a South Valley bosque trail. She left a note for her family the morning of July 26, telling them where she was going but never returned. Her body was found the next day floating in the Rio Grande. She had been raped and shot once in the head. Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Jesse James Ingram, 29, in connection with the crime. A District Court grand jury indicted Ingram on an open count of murder, two counts of criminal sexual penetration and one count each of kidnapping, assault with intent to commit a violent felony and possession of a firearm by a felon. Ingram has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. No trial date has been set.
36. July 30: Phillip Pulliam was charged with killing his wife, Sherry, after she came to the couple’s home in the 600 block of Louisiana SE without her wedding ring. Police said Phillip Pulliam shot Sherry Pulliam in the head with a rifle, covered her head with a pillow, left a short note attempting to justify his actions and then drove to Tulsa, Okla., where he told his son he had killed her. The son then called Oklahoma authorities, who alerted Albuquerque police homicide detectives.
37. Aug. 29: Former Kirtland airman James Howell was shot to death while sitting in his stopped car in the 6100 block of Comanche NE. On Sept. 11, police found the gun used to kill Howell after Adam DeLuna, 19, shot and killed himself on a rooftop near Central and Yucca when surrounded by police. Two other men connected with DeLuna’s crime spree also were arrested. Police said they believe DeLuna killed Howell.
38. Aug. 30: Aaron Joseph Ferrell, 17, was shot in the back as he was walking away from a fight at Mariposa Basin Park. Brothers Dat Tan Nguyen, 20, and Linh Nguyen, 21, were charged with first-degree murder in connection with the killing.
u39. Sept. 19: John Roger, 35, was shot to death inside his apartment in the 4500 block of Carlisle NE while his two children were sleeping. Police said they believe Roger had gotten into a confrontation with men who were trying to collect a drug debt that his ex-wife owed. No arrests have been made.
40. Sept. 4: Security guard Susan Schmidt was badly beaten when she caught a group of men trying to steal wheels from a Mustang parked at Bob Turner’s Ford in the 1100 block of Montano NE. Schmidt died weeks later. Police arrested Gary D. DiBenedetti, 20; Jeremy Dominguez, 18; Damian Gallegos, 21; Joshua R. Santistevan, 18; and Marc David Goodman-Nevarez, 19.
41. Oct. 6: Police were called to the 7500 block of Blue Avena SW and found Edwardo Salas, 25, lying in the middle of the street suffering from stab wounds. Salas died the next day. Investigators arrested Marcus Silva, 29, who they said got into an argument with Salas during a party, stabbed him and dragged his body into the street so Silva could claim Salas had been run over by a car.
42. Oct. 6: Jessica Wright, 28, of Albuquerque was arrested and charged with an open count of murder for allegedly stabbing her boyfriend, Yoel Betancourt, 30, to death during a domestic dispute in the 400 block of Wisconsin NE.
43. Oct. 18: Ryan Vigil, a 17-year-old Highland High School junior, and two of his friends had been throwing golf balls at people, including Raymond Lollis, 22, near Louisiana and Lomas. Police said Lollis got into his car and went looking for the teens. He found them near the intersection of Copper and General Arnold, where he fired one shot at the teens’ car as it was driving away, police said. The shot hit Vigil in the head, killing him.
44. Nov. 5: Three-year-old Alejandro Garcia was shot in the chest while his father, Hector Garcia-Salas, 23, was looking at a gun that he was considering purchasing inside his home in the 100 block of Abilene SE, police said. After the boy was shot, Garcia-Salas tried to cover it up by taking the boy out of the house, laying him on a sidewalk and claiming there was a drive-by shooting, according to police. Garcia-Salas was arrested on a charge of child abuse causing death.
45. Nov. 9: Police arrested Jack Long Nguyen, 19, and accused him of stabbing his former girlfriend, Tram Le, to death at the ABQ Uptown Shopping Center in the 2000 block of Louisiana NE. He is also charged with stabbing Hieu Nguyen, no relation.
u46. Nov. 25: Richard G. Garcia, 33, was found dead in an apartment in the 300 block of La Veta near San Mateo and Central. Garcia had suffered massive trauma to his upper torso and facial area. Police have not made any arrests, although they believe Garcia knew his attacker.
47. Nov. 26: Police found 62-year-old Rebecca Ortiz’s body at her home in the 700 block of 56th NW. She had been shot in the chest and arm. Julian A. Candelaria, 19, was arrested by Albuquerque police and charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death. Police said they have no motive, but they believe Ortiz’s son knew Candelaria.
u48. Dec. 4: Albert Meat, 32, was found dead with his stomach slashed open near 12th NW and Interstate 40. Police have no suspects and no motive.
49, 50. Dec. 4: Tak Yi, 79, and his wife Pung, 69, were found dead inside their home in the 6900 block of Avenida la Costa NE. Police later arrested two traveling magazine salesmen, Michael Joseph Lee, 21, and Travis R. Rowley, 23, and charged them with murder. Police said the two men were tying to steal items from the Yis when they killed them.
51. Dec. 16: The bodies of Maria Villanueva, 46, and Rafael Jesus Pinela, 50, were discovered inside Villanueva’s mobile home in the 9000 block of Volcano NW. Police believe Pinela shot Villanueva and then turned the gun on himself. The bodies and a handgun were found in the same room.
52. Dec. 21: Treelan Larronde, 29, was seen running north on Fourth Street shortly before he collapsed near Central. The man was pronounced dead at University of New Mexico Hospital with a stab wound to his chest. A warrant has been issued for Nethaniel Nunez, 17, who police said stabbed Larronde.
53. Dec. 22: The body of Joe J. Candelaria, 68, was found inside his home in the 700 block of Florida SE early in the morning after a transient told police the body would be there, according to a Metro Court criminal complaint. The suspect had lived at a homeless shelter until Candelaria offered him a place to stay a week before the stabbing. In addition to murder, the transient, listed as John Doe with an alias of Erik Manyk, was charged with aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, assault with the intent to commit a violent felony and unlawful taking of a vehicle, according to the criminal complaint.
u54. Dec. 22: John Perez, 16, was shot to death early in the morning in southwest Albuquerque. The youth was in a black Chevrolet Cavalier with another 16-year-old and a 14-year-old when someone in a second vehicle fire shots at their vehicle near Coors and Arenal SW. Police have no suspects.
