Testimony begins in trial of man in wife's killing

Attorneys offered jurors contrasting explanations Tuesday for Lee Cuellar’s decision to strangle his wife in their Southwest Albuquerque home in 2021.

Cuellar’s attorney said the U.S. Army veteran suffered from untreated mental illness and believed his wife had become a “demon” who intended to hurt Cuellar and his family.

“In his eyes, she was possessed,” defense attorney Amy Williams told jurors. “He felt as though he had to neutralize that malevolent force. She was a demon that had to be destroyed.”

Prosecutors allege that Cuellar, 45, a former ROTC instructor at Kennedy Middle School, strangled 26-year-old Rosalejandra Cisneros-Cuellar in the bedroom of their home on May 23, 2021.

Cuellar was increasingly unhappy with his wife’s burgeoning modeling career and expanding circle of friends, prosecutor Jolanna Macias told jurors.

“The marriage wasn’t working,” Macias said in opening statements. “Rosalejandra was a rising model, getting many modeling opportunities. She was going back to school, starting to gain some agency, making friends, going to study groups.”

The 15-year age difference between Cuellar and his wife contributed to making the marriage “toxic,” Macias said.

“She was finally coming into her own, having her own ideals, her own aspirations,” she said. “And unfortunately, Mr. Cuellar was not having any of that. Because, as the old adage goes, if he can’t have her, nobody can.”

Prosecutors showed jurors nearly a dozen photos of Cisneros from her modeling career. Defense attorneys countered by showing photos of Cuellar and his wife as a couple.

Both prosecution and defense attorneys acknowledge that Cuellar strangled Cisneros-Cuellar by wrapping a T-shirt around her neck and using a stick as a tourniquet.

Testimony began Monday in Cuellar’s trial on a charge of first-degree murder. The 2nd Judicial District Court trial is scheduled through Oct. 9 before Judge Britt Baca.

This trial is Cuellar’s second in his wife’s killing. His first trial in January ended in mistrial after Baca found that jurors heard statements that should have been excluded.

His attorney responded Tuesday that Cuellar is a “good, broken man” who had a loving relationship with his wife and raised her young daughter as his own.

Cuellar was also supportive of his wife’s modeling career and efforts to further her education, Williams told jurors.

“You will hear that they loved each other deeply,” she said.

Cuellar retired honorably after 22 years of service in the U.S. Army and the Army National Guard. At the time of his wife’s killing, Cuellar was teaching ROTC classes at Kennedy Middle School.

As a result of his military service, Cuellar suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, had difficulty making the transition to civilian life and struggled unsuccessfully to get mental health treatment. He also struggled with the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“He became anxious, depressed, conspiratorial, he became paranoid, he became delusional, and most of all, he became suicidal,” Williams said.

Cuellar resolved to commit suicide, Williams said. He planned to spend the final day of his life with Cisneros-Cuellar on May 22, 2021, the day before her death.

“But things began to spiral when they were at dinner,” Williams said. “These paranoid delusions that he was feeling got further and further out of control.”

Cuellar came to believe that his wife’s soul was “pulling away” from her, Williams said.

“His wife became a demon to him,” she said. “He believed she was going to cause him and his family harm. He couldn’t see the Ally that he loved anymore.” Ally was Cuellar’s pet name for his wife, she said.

Within hours of the killing, Cuellar flagged down an Albuquerque police officer at Tiguex Park in Old Town by throwing a bottle of pills at her car, police said. The responding officer, Marcy Duran, recognized Cuellar as a fellow member of the New Mexico Army National Guard, Duran testified Tuesday.

Cuellar immediately told Duran that he had killed his wife and that police could find her body in the couple’s home in the 9900 block of Rio Madre SW, near Dennis Chavez and 98th.