Man accused of killing man with cane over stolen phone, watch in Southwest Albuquerque

A man is accused of killing another man with a cane outside a Southwest Albuquerque McDonald’s on Sunday.

Neil Winslow, 37, of Los Lunas, is charged with an open count of murder in the death of a 43-year-old man. Winslow is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

Deputies identified Winslow through video surveillance, according to a criminal complaint filed at Metropolitan Court.

The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office is not releasing the man’s name until they notify the next of kin, BCSO spokesperson Connor Otero said.

At 1 p.m. Sunday, deputies responded to a call of two men fighting outside McDonald’s in the 1900 block of Coors SW, near Arenal Road.

A caller told dispatch a man — later identified as Winslow — was holding the man down with a cane before going through the man’s pockets, according to the complaint.

When deputies arrived, they saw Winslow standing outside McDonald’s and the man not breathing in a drainage ditch, the complaint states. The man was later pronounced dead at the scene, deputies said. Near the ditch, deputies found cash, a cellphone and a black cane, according to the complaint.

Witnesses told deputies they saw Winslow on top of the man, “pushing down on (his) throat with a stick” until he stopped moving, after the man reportedly stole items from Winslow, deputies said.

Winslow told deputies they were heading to the McDonald’s when the man asked Winslow to buy alcohol, which Winslow declined to do, causing the man to get angry and punch Winslow in the face, according to the complaint.

Winslow told deputies the man then stole his Apple Watch and cellphone, deputies said. He told deputies he went after the man, offering him $100 for the items, before grabbing a cane “just in case things got out of hand,” deputies said.

Winslow told deputies the man hit him with a large rock then threw smaller rocks at him before Winslow got on top of the man and put his elbow on his chest, according to the complaint.

Winslow told police he was telling him to return the items when he heard the man’s breathing become “faint,” deputies said. He told deputies he let go of him and retrieved his phone from the man’s pocket, the complaint states.

Winslow told deputies when he poured an iced drink on the man, he heard him “gasp” then saw him fall into the drainage ditch, deputies said.

Winslow did not have “visible injuries” associated with being punched or hit with a rock, according to the complaint. Deputies said through video surveillance they saw the man walking away from the car when Winslow followed him with a cane.

“I asked Neil why he did not call police instead of following (the man) to retrieve his property, to which he stated that he has known police take a long time to respond,” the complaint states.