Testimony opens in the first of three murder trials for Roswell man

A Roswell man charged in the killings of three men began trial Monday in the 2021 shooting death of 47-year-old Mario Delgado Jr. at his mobile home in Albuquerque.

Jeffrey Contreras, 29, is scheduled for two additional trials in April and May in the killings of two other men in Roswell in January and February 2021.

Testimony began Monday in Contreras’ trial on charges of first-degree murder, armed robbery and five other felonies in Delgado’s Feb. 10, 2021, shooting death in Albuquerque.

His trial in 2nd Judicial District Court is expected to continue through Friday before Judge Britt Baca.

Prosecutor Jolanna Macias told jurors Monday that Contreras conspired with a woman to rob Delgado after the pair fled Roswell and found themselves in need of money. In the course of that robbery, Contreras shot Delgado, she said.

“They needed somebody to rob and who was an easy target? Mario Delgado Jr.,” Macias said in opening statements. Delgado was shot after he put up a struggle, she said.

Contreras’ co-defendant, Samantha Shull, 36, is expected to testify this week in Contreras’ trial, Macias said. Both she and Contreras were longtime drug uses, she told jurors.

Contreras’ attorney, Deidre Ewing, told jurors Monday to remain skeptical of Shull’s testimony.

“She has told a lot of versions of this story, and I don’t know which one we’re going to hear when she gets on the stand,” Ewing said in opening statements.

Ewing also told jurors that Shull received a “sweetheart deal” from prosecutors in exchange for her testimony.

Shull, who was initially charged with first-degree murder, pleaded guilty last week in 2nd Judicial District Court to charges of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and tampering with evidence. She faces up to 15 years in prison, according to her plea agreement. Baca has not scheduled her sentencing hearing.

Shull had known Delgado from a previous relationship and set up a meeting with him that day at Delgado’s mobile home in the 8600 block of Zuni SE prosecutors allege.

Police say that five days before Delgado’s killing, Contreras allegedly shot and killed 57-year-old Anthony Vasquez in Roswell.

Contreras faces trial on May 5 on charges of first-degree murder and other charges in Vasquez’s killing on Feb. 5, 2021.

Chaves County Sheriff’s Office investigators have said that Vasquez’s killing may be related to Jan. 22, 2021, death of Johnny Pacheco Jr. 26. Investigators have said that Vasquez helped Contreras disposed of Pacheco’s body and that Contreras may have killed Vasquez to eliminate a witness to Pacheco’s killing.

Contreras and Shull were arrested at the Roswell Inn Motel on Feb. 15, 2021, five days after Delgado’s killing.