By Harry Moskos
Of The Journal
It seems there is some despicable act of violence almost daily in our state ranging from murder to home invasion or to a 17-year-old in Santa Fe simply stabbing someone in a dispute over what music to play at a party.
This violence makes one wonder why so many people in today's society take this destructive path to wantonly infect harm on others.
Murders attract the most attention. Last year, there were more than one a week with 63 murders in Bernalillo County. A figure I certainly consider to be alarming.
The loss is devastating to family members, friends and even acquaintances. But the names of the victims— Howell, Yazzie, Pulliam, Delgado, Healey and on and on— are probably no more than a fleeting memory for most readers as they glance over the articles. Then there is a name that rings a bell.
In my case, it was two victims of brutal murders committed within weeks of each other.
"We know her," I said to my wife as I read about one of the many tragic homicides that grace the front page of this newspaper.
The "her" was Norma Gutierrez de Moya, 37, a delightful person with a charming smile, a warm personality and a caring attitude.
Norma was a caregiver at the retirement facility where my wife's father is a resident. We knew Norma and her pleasant demeanor for more than seven years. We would see her several times a week.
She was a warm, considerate person who took excellent care of the senior citizens entrusted to her care. She had a personality that made you feel her warmth and sincerity.
It was sad when we read the story of her brutal death.
Norma was walking her dog near her home that fateful July 26 morning. Her body was found the next day in the Rio Grande with a bullet wound in her head.
A 28-year-old man was indicted by a grand jury last week and charged with murder, criminal sexual penetration, assault to commit a violent felony and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Norma's smiling face comes to mind whenever I read about a development in her case or talk to someone at my father-in-law's residential home.
I now understand how family members of victims of violent crimes live with a haunting memory and a haunting question: Why?
About two weeks earlier, on July 10, Bill Alderson, 52, a co-worker at this newspaper was found fatally strangled— the victim of a senseless murder allegedly committed by three people burglarizing his home.
I would see Bill almost daily as I walked the halls. My tasks at the Journal would take me to Bill's department regularly and he would be efficiently at work. There would always be a smile on his face and a friendly greeting as well as the opportunity to raid the candy jar by his work station.
In Bills's murder, a grand jury has indicted two adults on charges of voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, conspiracy, aggravated burglary and contributing to the delinquency of a minor— one of the three alleged perpetrators is the 17-year-old son of one of the two adults indicted. What a role model for a teenager!
Norma. Bill. Will the violence ever end?
Unfortunately, never.
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