Alleged killer detained in the 2019 beating deaths of father, son at Taos Pueblo

A man charged in the beating deaths of a father and son at a house in Taos Pueblo in 2019 was ordered by a federal judge Friday to remain in custody while awaiting trial, court records show.

Joshua Gonzales, 37, made his initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque on two counts of first-degree murder.

Gonzales was indicted Nov. 1 by a federal grand jury more than three years after officers found the bodies of Antonio “Tony” Romero, 82, and his son, Buck Romero, 51, at Buck Romero’s home at Taos Pueblo on June 1, 2019.

Prosecutors allege that Gonzales used a wooden table leg to bludgeon Buck Romero to death in his home only moments before Antonio Romero arrived at his son’s house, according to a pretrial detention motion filed in federal court by U.S. Attorney Alexander Uballez.

Gonzales then beat Antonio Romero to death with the table leg, prosecutors alleged.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer Rozzoni on Friday approved the pretrial detention motion, ordering Gonzales held pending trial.

The pretrial detention motion set out the following circumstances of the killings:

Gonzales and his girlfriend stayed at Buck Romero’s home on May 30, 2019, where the three made smudge sticks to sell at Taos Plaza Live, an entertainment event that evening at the Taos Plaza.

At the event, Buck Romero “grew tired or agitated” with Gonzales and Gonzales’ girlfriend and “tried to separate himself from them” by getting a ride with a friend. Gonzales overheard the conversation and asked to ride with them.

The group first drove to a grocery store, where Buck Romero called a friend and said he was trying to “shake” the people he was with. The group then left the store and drove to Buck Romero’s home.

Buck Romero later called his father, who “got in his truck to make the short drive” to his son’s home, the motion said.

Gonzales later assaulted his girlfriend, who told Buck Romero about the assault. The girlfriend then left the house.

After Buck Romero questioned Gonzales about the assault, the situation “escalated” and Gonzales fatally beat Buck Romero with a wooden table leg, prosecutors allege.

A short time later, Antonio Romero arrived at his son’s house and was fatally beaten by Gonzales, the motion said.

Gonzales then allegedly “stacked both men in the corner” of Buck Romero’s home and placed a roll of metal fencing over the bodies, the motion said. Gonzales then left the home and locked the door with a padlock, it said.