YouTuber who spun conspiracy theories charged in shooting death of southern New Mexico minister

For years, Joseph Costello spun conspiracy theories on YouTube while allegedly harassing those using a popular trail near Silver City — becoming aggressive and sometimes firing a gun, including around a high school cross country team and a wildlife biologist.

New Mexico State Police say on June 26 the 29-year-old from Fort Bayard shot and killed Stephen Timmons, 62, as Timmons rode his mountain bike on the Dragon Fly trail system. Timmons was the campus minister for the Christian Challenge of Western New Mexico University in Silver City.

An online obituary said Timmons had three children and two grandchildren and previously served as campus minister at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

“Anyone who knew Steve knew he loved the Lord, his family and his students. He loved and respected everyone regardless of who they were or where they came from,” according to the obituary. “Steve was known for his constant smile which often spilled from his silliness.”

Costello was arrested June 30 on a warrant during a traffic stop and a gun found on him matched bullets and casings from Timmons’ death, according to a criminal complaint filed in Grant County Magistrate Court.

Costello has been booked into the Grant County Detention Center.

In the past four years, Costello has run a YouTube channel called “Killing The Illuminati,” producing almost 300 videos and gaining 680 subscribers. In some videos, Costello talked about “lizard people” and being “gangstalked” while others showed him aggressively confronting people in southern New Mexico.

He also had concerning run-ins with law enforcement.

In 2018, Costello allegedly took an officer’s Taser and used it on the officer and his partner while they were trying to detain him, according to court records. That case was dismissed shortly after for unknown reasons.

Then, in 2021, Costello allegedly pointed a crossbow at a family floating down the Rio Grande, including a teen and 5-year-old, while yelling racial slurs. Court records show that case was dismissed because Costello was found not competent to stand trial.

Prosecutors filed a motion to detain Costello until trial in Timmons’ death, calling him “highly volatile and unpredictable and a severe flight risk.”

On June 26, State Police responded around 10:30 p.m. to the Dragon Fly Trailhead, where Timmons’ wife and daughter were looking for him, according to the complaint. The family told police Timmons had gone mountain biking in the area at 8 a.m. but never came home and his truck was parked at the trailhead.

Police said hours later a search-and-rescue team found Timmons’ body in the area and an autopsy determined he had been shot several times.

As they were investigating, detectives learned through a “community watch” group on social media that a man who “exhibited aggressive paranoid behavior” had moved to Fort Bayard. In February 2022, Costello made headlines after residents in a rural Doña Ana County neighborhood alleged he had threatened and chased them for months.

Detectives found the YouTube channel and were able to identify the man in the videos as Costello, according to the complaint. State Police learned of several other confrontations in the Dragon Fly Trailhead area since mid-2022, some of which were never reported.

Police said in the fall of 2022, the Silver City High School cross country team was confronted by a man on a bicycle fitting Costello’s description who fired a gun as they ran away. Around the same time, a wildlife biologist was checking a valve in the area when a man came out of the bushes and asked why the biologist was “following him” while spouting government conspiracies.

The wildlife biologist identified Costello as the man who confronted him, according to the complaint.

Police said on June 30 a Forest Service officer pulled Costello over after he drove onto U.S. 180 and Fort Bayard Road on a motorized bicycle and almost struck several vehicles. The officer discovered Costello had a warrant and arrested him, finding a 9mm handgun on him.

Costello wouldn’t speak with detectives but made statements that he was “anti-government and anti-law enforcement” and wouldn’t identify himself, according to the complaint. Several days later, the casings and bullets from the fatal shooting of Timmons were found to be a “direct match” to the gun found on Costello.