Clue Could Help Solve Killings (Assault rifle believed used in NM triple slaying)

The Albuquerque Journal (subscription required) ^ | 12-23-02 | Jeff Jones

[CedarDave]

Monday, December 23, 2002

Clue Could Help Solve Killings

By Jeff Jones Journal Staff Writer

    The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department says it has tracked down what might be another important clue in the unsolved 1999 East Mountains triple killings.
    The possible weapon — an AK-47 assault rifle — was probably altered so that it had a much more distinctive look than a standard AK-47, said sheriff's Sgt. Gregg Marcantel. He heads the task force looking into the deaths of teenage friends Kevin Shirley, Luis Garcia and Matt Hunt.
    Investigators have reconstructed a gun that they believe looks like the possible weapon. They have released a photograph of it in hopes that it could generate more leads in the May 29, 1999, slayings.
    The new gun information "offers a huge potential to narrow our field of search" for the boys' killer or killers, Marcantel said during an interview late last week.
    Shirley and Hunt, both 17, and Garcia, 16, were shot to death after leaving a gathering in the Sandia Knolls subdivision north of Tijeras. They were in a compact car at the intersection of Pinon Heights Road and Jennifer Drive when they were killed.
    The deaths have become the Albuquerque area's most notorious unsolved homicide case. A reward fund — which has topped $100,000 — has yet to be tapped.
    Late last month, the task force revealed that it had recovered a piece of a chopped-up AK-47 but would not say where or when the gun was found or what led investigators to it.
    Marcantel said the piece could be from the weapon used to shoot the teens. The Sheriff's Department plans to do some "unconventional" forensic testing on the gun piece in hopes of determining that.
    The gun piece has a plastic forearm on it, Marcantel said. He said the task force has consulted with gun experts and has learned that the forearm was from a "Dragunov" stock conversion kit that can be purchased from gun shops, gun shows, through mail-order shops and over the Internet.
    The kit consists of a forearm and gunstock that make an AK-47 appear more like a Dragunov, which is a Russian sniper rifle. The Dragunov is a fairly uncommon weapon.
    Marcantel said such kits would probably be more popular with younger gun owners.
    He is asking anyone who may have had a gun with such a kit stolen before the shootings, or anyone who may have known someone with such a gun, to call the task force at 768-4115.

Copyright 2002 Albuquerque Journal

[CedarDave]

This was a particularly heinous killing. The three boys shot had just emerged from a small party at a house in a gated subdivision. It was not particularly late (11:00 - 12:00 p.m.). They stopped (or were stopped) a short distance outside the gate and all three were shot at close range execution style. One boy had been in an accident the year before and was paralyzed from the waist down. The other two were soccer team members. The location is about a two-miles from my Cedar Crest house, and I have participated in events to raise reward money. The sheriff likely believes that the victims knew their attackers, and probably has some other leads not made public. If any FReepers believe thay have knowledge or insight regarding the type of weapon mentioned in the article, they are urged to contact the BCSD. Unfortunately, I did not find a photograph to go with the article.

[MotleyGirl70]

Do law enforcement agents have a motive for the killings?

Terrible.

[CedarDave]

Public speculation has ranged from a feud over a girl friend to drugs. However, nothing definite has been released. The boys were "clean" regarding drugs, though the attacker (or attackers) may have been under the influence. It is hinted the police have some suspects, but not enough evidence to charge anyone. Just rumors so far.

(BTW, another equally horrific mass killing took place further to the south near Torreon several years ago. Drugs were the cause of the murder of several men and a woman in a cabin. After the woman was murdered, the killers left the cabin, but ignored two little baby girls who were the woman's daughters. When the owner of the cabin returned many weeks later, he found the murder victims and the little girls who had died of dehydration, exposure and starvation. The killers were caught but used a "they shot first" defense. After several trials and plea agreements, jail time has been minimal for them. A case of jurors feeling sorry for the defendents, not the victims.)

[Blood of Tyrants]

More "assault" rifles in the news. As the sunset date approaches, expect the media to focus on every single shooting that involves anything that even remotely resembles an assault weapon. Or even uses the same caliber as an assault weapon. Headlines will say:

VICTIM SHOT WITH GUN THAT USES ASSAULT WEAPON BULLETS

Believe me, it won't end until either we are disarmed or they are dead.

[MotleyGirl70]

That is horrible that the two baby girls were left to die.

It's just another jury that has no brains or backbone. Juries like this are peppered in every court across America. Just another sympathetic jury for the criminals.

[CedarDave]

Sorry -- it was two little boys:

CHARGES DROPPED IN CABIN CASE

Published on January 11, 2001, Article 1 of 14 found.

   Bruce Daniels Journal Staff Writer

All charges against Roy Buchner, one of four defendants in the now 4 1/2-year-old Torreon cabin murder case, were dismissed last week for lack of evidence.

Buchner, now 23, was to have gone to trial Jan. 22 in Truth or Consequences for murder and other crimes in connection with the deaths of 17-year-old Ben Anaya Jr., 23-year-old Cassandra Sedillo and Sedillo's sons, 4-year-old Johnny Ray Garcia and 3-year-old Matthew Garcia.

The bodies of all four were found in a Torreon cabin in (Albuquerque Journal (NM), 850 words. )

Complete Article, 850 words ( <!- $$$$. -> )

[MotleyGirl70]

The case was dismissed!!!!!!!!

How outrageous!

Thanks for posting the article.