After jury quickly convicts him of murdering DeVargas teacher, ‘Bozo’ Lopez viciously insults his victim
By Steve Terrell The New Mexican
Arthur “Bozo” Lopez stabbed teacher Noah Rodriguez more than 50 times in October 1996. And on Wednesday, just after a jury convicted him of first-degree murder, Lopez took another stab at Rodriguez.
“I’m not going to say I’m an angel, but the man upstairs knows what happened,” Lopez said. “I know in my heart I did the right thing. I don’t just kill somebody for no reason.
“He was a disgusting man,” Lopez said of the slain teacher as members of the Rodriguez family sat and held each other in the courtroom. “I think he deserved everything he got.”
State District Judge Jim Hall became stern. “Your view of Noah Rodriguez is the same as my view of you,” he said. Then Hall sentenced Lopez to life in prison for the murder – which is mandatory for first-degree murders in New Mexico – plus 19 years for his convictions on charges of false imprisonment and tampering with evidence and another 19 years for two felony convictions stemming from a jailhouse disturbance last year.
This sentence, together with the 28-year sentence Lopez previously received for evidence tampering in the Rodriguez case, means Lopez will serve a sentence of life plus 66 years. Even if he earns “good time” in prison, Lopez will be in his 80s before being released from the penitentiary – barring the conviction being overturned on appeal.
As sheriff’s deputies led Lopez from the courtroom, the killer turned to the Rodriguez family and said, using an expletive, “I’m glad he … died.”
The seven-woman, five-man jury took only 45 minutes to convict Lopez. Prosecutor Linda Lonsdale said it is the fastest jury deliberation in a murder case she can remember.
It was Lopez’s second trial for murdering Rodriguez. In July the first trial ended with a hung jury – with 11 jurors voting to convict Lopez for first-degree murder.
District Attorney Henry Valdez, who prosecuted the case with Lonsdale, said now that the trial is over, people can remember Rodriguez in the light he deserves. “The verdict has vindicated Noah Rodriguez,” he said. “We lost an outstanding member of our community. Now we should remember Noah Rodriguez for who he was – someone who cared about our kids.”
Rodriguez won a national award for his teaching at DeVargas Junior High School. He also taught at Santa Fe Community College.
Valdez also said he was glad jurors rejected Lopez’s claim that he stabbed Lopez after the teacher made an unwelcome sexual advance.
Rodriguez’s brothers and sisters – who attended every day of the trial – expressed relief at the verdict. “I’m just happy it’s over,” said Bernadette Ault.
Asked what it was like hearing Lopez insult their brother, Angel Sanford said, “It was like pouring salt into an open wound.”
Herman Rodriguez said he felt bad for Lopez’s family. His sisters agreed. “We both love our brothers,” Ault said. “We love Noah and they love Arthur. (Lopez’s attorney) Steve Aarons was right. It was a tragedy for two families.”
Lopez’s parents, Art and Caroline Lopez of Moriarty, expressed anger at the jury’s verdict and the judge’s sentence.
Asked about her son’s words about Rodriguez, she said, “That’s his reaction. I don’t blame him.” “He asked for a change of venue twice and they denied it both times,” Caroline Lopez said. She said she is convinced that her son was convicted because Rodriguez was a local teacher and her son was from out of town.
Jurors interviewed after the verdict was announced said that all 12 jurors were in favor of a first-degree murder conviction for Lopez.
One female juror, who asked not to be named, said she first started leaning toward believing Lopez was guilty after prosecutors played a police 911 tape, in which Rodriguez’s screams for mercy could be heard in the background as a neighbor called to report a disturbance next door. Three neighbors in the 100 block of West Coronado Road – where Lopez lived in a rented guest house – and nearby West Houghton Street reported hearing someone screaming about 3 a.m. Oct. 13, 1996.
Police drove by the house, but said dispatchers never told them the exact addresses of the people who called.
The following Monday, when Rodriguez did not show up at DeVargas, his family reported him missing. Rodriguez’s bloodstained car was found on Houghton Street on Oct. 17.
Police solved the case in late October when a young auto burglar who was arrested told detectives that he had seen Lopez cleaning blood from his home and that Lopez told him he had killed the missing teacher.
In sentencing Lopez, Hall noted his lengthy criminal record. Among Lopez’s convictions are a 1991 case in which he pointed a gun at a Moriarty convenience store clerk; a conviction of assaulting an officer in the early 1990s when he pushed a deputy who was guarding his brother at an Albuquerque hospital; a burglary conviction for an incident in which he and his brother went to a former friend’s house, forced their way in, beat up the resident and damaged property.
After Lopez’s arrest, his friends said he was a member of the Brew Town gang in Albuquerque but was not active in gang life in Santa Fe.
Lopez, who was not married, has a young son who friends said lived with his mother out of town.
