Pair arrested in triple homicide after bodies found in torched car in Otero County

An Alamogordo man is accused of killing three relatives outside Mescalero before fleeing with his stepsister to Mississippi.

Kane Mayes, 27, and Cassandra Douglas, 28, are each charged with three open counts of murder and tampering with evidence in the shooting deaths of Mayes’ relatives, Killian Mayes, 24, Mary Mouser, 79, and Victor Perea, 68.

Mayes is also facing one count of aggravated burglary and two counts of auto theft in the case.

Douglas is behind bars at the Otero County Detention Center. Mayes was arrested by the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office in Mississippi.

On Jan. 22, officers responded to a call about a burnt body inside a car in the 100 block of Nogal Canyon Road in Bent. When they arrived, they found a vehicle flipped on its roof, “still smoldering.” Inside were the bodies of Killian Mayes, Mouser, and Perea, according to a criminal complaint filed in Alamogordo Magistrate Court.

All three had been fatally shot before the vehicle was intentionally set on fire, police said.

Inside the home where Killian Mayes, Mouser and Perea lived, less than a mile from where the vehicle was, officers found a bullet hole in the kitchen and a trash bag in the laundry room that had a shell casing and a pair of bloodied jeans inside, the complaint states.

Authorities said law enforcement learned Mayes and Douglas may have fled to Mississippi and officers there detained Douglas at a motel. Douglas initially denied being involved in the triple homicide and said she hadn’t seen Kane Mayes.

Soon after, the complaint states, Douglas dropped off Kane Mayes at the police station and he denied being involved in the triple homicide. Deputies in Mississippi found several items in the vehicle Douglas and Kane Mayes drove there, including shell casings, ammunition and latex gloves.

After returning to Roswell, Douglas told officers she helped Kane Mayes clean up the blood in the kitchen, load the bodies into the vehicle, flip it over and set it on fire, according to the complaint.

This story has been updated with the correct spelling of Victor Perea. Perea's name was misspelled in the criminal complaint.