Man accused of killing friend and framing it as self-defense in Northwest Albuquerque

Albuquerque police say a 21-year-old man used a shotgun to kill his friend, who then had a knife placed in his hand “to make it look like the shooting was in self-defense.”

Noah Rodriguez is charged with an open count of murder and tampering with evidence. Rodriguez was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on Thursday.

It is unknown whether Rodriguez has an attorney. His mother told the Journal she was not able to comment due to the case being under investigation.

The man Rodriguez shot, who was reportedly a friend, is not being identified by the Journal because his family has not been notified.

Court records show that Rodriguez and the friend were arrested Nov. 5 when they were allegedly found intoxicated and armed with guns during a fight with another group in Downtown Albuquerque. Both men were released and awaiting trial in that case.

At around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, Rodriguez’s mother called 911 to report that her son had shot his friend at their West Side home, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Rodriguez could be heard in the background saying the friend punched him and, five minutes into the call, the mother said the friend “has a knife in his hand.”

Police said they responded to the home in the 5100 block of Vista De Luz NW, near Coors and Dellyne, and found the man fatally shot in the hallway and a shotgun on a nearby table. Detectives noted in the complaint that, despite a lot of blood around the man’s body, none was on the knife in his hand.

Several of Rodriguez’s relatives who were at the scene told police the two were fighting and that the friend had a knife in his hand when Rodriguez shot him. A detective found inconsistencies on what was said about how the fight happened and where the knife came from, among others.

Police said when they confronted Rodriguez with those inconsistencies, he “revised his statement.” Rodriguez told detectives his friend woke him up and began arguing with him over a girl.

Rodriguez told police the two began fighting and his friend overpowered him with brief choke hold but then let him go, according to the complaint. Rodriguez said he grabbed the shotgun and told his friend to leave, but he refused.

Police said Rodriguez told them he then shot his friend, who he thought had a knife because of “the way (his) fist was clenched.” Rodriguez said afterward, his relatives talked about putting a knife in the friend’s hand to support a self-defense claim.

Rodriguez told police he believed his girlfriend’s 14-year-old sister grabbed the knife from his dresser, opened it and placed it in his friend’s hand, according to the complaint.