Dead Man Linked To Earlier Murders?

And Sheriff Tommy Rodella said it’s related to drugs and perhaps Mexican cartels. In both cases, two bodies were found in homes that had been set ablaze. The scenes are about six miles apart.

“From looking at the whole situation, including all four deaths, to me it’s very evident that this has all the markings of the Mexican cartel,” Rodella said. “If that’s true, I would venture to say the Mexican cartel is alive and well in Rio Arriba County.”

In the Dec. 21 case, the two bodies found among the charred remains of a mobile home on U.S. 84 south of Medanales have yet to be identified.

But, “we have reason to believe one of the them is Tomas Sanchez, our suspect in the Dec. 10 incident,” Rodella said.

Tomas J. Sanchez, 20, has been unaccounted for since the Dec. 21 fire, which occurred at a mobile home where Sanchez spent time. In addition, Rodella said a piece of jewelry Sanchez was known to wear also gave him reason to believe Sanchez was one of those found dead Dec. 21.

New Mexico State Police is handling the investigation into that fire. A State Police spokesman would say only that the bodies from that fire had gone to the Office of the Medical Investigator for positive identification and determination of cause of death.

He also said the investigation was ongoing and that State Police had no evidence linking the two fires.

But Rodella maintained that he believes the two fires are connected. He said “large amounts” of prescription drugs and narcotics are involved.

Rodella said there is evidence that a Mexican cartel has been active in the area for at least 10 years, but he did not specify which cartel or cartels may be involved. The sheriff also released new information Thursday on the manner of death of the two men who were found Dec. 10 in the trailer in Hernandez. He said Matthew Maestas, 53, and Joseph Eugene Valdez, 47, were each shot multiple times before the home, where Maestas resided, was set ablaze.

“Further investigation reveals both victims sustained minimally five gunshot wounds, and minimally one to the head,” Rodella said, adding that he has reason to believe more than one gun was used.

Rodella said the weapons used were handguns.

The sheriff said the crime scene was one of the most gruesome he had ever seen. He said evidence suggested that one of the victims died while on his knees, while the other man was found lying on his back.

The sheriff said investigators believe there was more than one assailant and that the victims may have known their attackers. He said he believes the fire was set to destroy evidence.

Deputies discovered the bodies when they first entered the trailer about 5 p.m. on Dec. 10 because they saw smoke.

Rodella said investigators identified Sanchez as a suspect in that crime by Dec. 17, but they were unable to locate him. He said they have not been able to identify a second suspect.

The Dec. 21 fire was called in about 1 a.m. It wasn’t until later that morning that state Fire Marshal’s Office arrived to conduct an investigation into the cause of the fire that the remains of two other individuals were found.
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal