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Man sentenced to 30 years in two Albuquerque killings
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A judge sentenced Casper Rickords this week to 30 years in prison for a pair of shooting deaths in 2022 and 2023.
Jurors in April convicted Rickords, 24, of first-degree murder and armed robbery in the Oct. 22, 2022, killing of 19-year-old Isaac Torres during a robbery in Downtown Albuquerque.
The first-degree murder conviction requires Rickords to serve 30 years before he is eligible for parole. Second Judicial District Judge Cindy Leos handed down the sentence Wednesday.
Rickords also pleaded guilty in July to first-degree murder in the Feb. 6, 2023, shooting death of Bradley Soza, 41, near an Albuquerque motel.
Rickords’ co-defendant, Melvin Robinson, 34, pleaded guilty in February to two counts of second-degree murder and other charges in the killings of Torres and Soza.
Judge David Murphy sentenced Robinson in April to 40 years in prison.
Albuquerque police found Torres fatally shot at an Albuquerque Rapid Transit bus station at 100 Central SW on Oct. 22, 2022, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.
Surveillance video showed Torres speaking with two men outside the Alvarado Transportation Center at First and Central when one of the men pulled out a gun and fired two shots at Torres, the complaint said.
In Soza’s killing, police found Soza shot in the back near the Ambassador Inn at 1520 Candelaria NE.
Security video showed a man hit Soza with a pole before a second man shot him once, according to a criminal complaint. Other video showed the attackers entering and exiting the office at the Ambassador Inn.
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A manager at the hotel said she had hired Robinson to work as a security guard at the motel.
