Jurors begin deliberations in 11-year-old murder case

Jurors were given the job Tuesday of sorting out an 11-year-old murder that was reopened as a cold-case investigation, leading to the 2017 indictment of Jaycob Michael Price.

Prosecutors allege that Price, 32, fatally shot 26-year-old Julio Apodaca in 2013 while robbing him of about $100 worth of prescription pills.

The weeklong trial included testimony by Price's father, who told jurors that he saw his son rack a pistol and shoot Apodaca once in the head as the two sat in the front seat of a car.

Jurors are expected to resume deliberations Wednesday in 2nd Judicial District Court before Judge Courtney Weaks.

Price's attorney, Raymond Maestas, said in closing arguments that conflicting testimony by the father and other witnesses leaves ample room for doubt in the prosecution's theory of the case.

"The state's witnesses are all over the map," said Maestas, who listed examples that he described as contradictory statements by witnesses.

"I've been on this case for over a decade now and even I'm not sure what happened," Maestas told jurors on Tuesday.

Albuquerque police responded to a 911 call shortly before midnight on April 2, 2013, and found Apodaca lying next to a sport-utility vehicle outside an apartment complex near Broadway and Lomas NE.

The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that certain cellphone evidence could be admitted in Price's trial. Price's attorneys had sought to block the use of evidence obtained from cellphone records, prompting a district judge to toss some of the evidence.

Prosecutors contend that the day Apodaca was killed, cellphone records show that he texted Price and asked if he wanted to buy prescription pills.

"For the rest of that day there were many, many, many calls between (Price) and Julio Apodaca," prosecutor David Waymire told jurors last week.

Joe Price, 57, testified last week that Jaycob Price asked for a ride to an apartment complex in the 400 block of Fruit NE.

Joe Price told jurors that he waited in his truck while his son entered the passenger seat of another vehicle. After several minutes, Joe Price said he approached the vehicle and saw his son shoot a man in the driver's seat.

"As I was walking up, I began to hear a fuss between the two of them," Joe Price testified. "Just as I bent down, I saw my son Jaycob cock a pistol. He fired the pistol."

After they drove from the scene, they "dismantled" the pistol and tossed pieces in two locations, he said.

Joe Price said he initially denied involvement but later came forward out of compassion for the victim's family.

Joe Price was indicted in 2017 on charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery in Apodaca's killing. He pleaded guilty in March 2019 to conspiracy to commit armed robbery and faces up to three years in prison, court records show. His sentencing has not been scheduled.

Maestas told jurors Tuesday that Joe Price "struck a deal with the state" that required him to testify against his son and warned that the father's testimony is unreliable.

"He uses his children when convenient," Maestas said of Joe Price. "The truth doesn't mean much to him."

Prosecutor India Trummer said in closing arguments that Joe Price was not required to testify in his son's trial.

Joe Price's testimony, in addition to new cellphone and DNA investigation techniques, has made the case against Jaycob Price possible, Trummer told jurors.

Prosecutors contend that Jaycob Price's DNA was found in the passenger seat of Apodaca's vehicle.