ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Trial of fourth defendant accused of killing Mexican national starts today in Taos.
3/3/08 UPDATE: We neglected to catch up with the outcome of the fourth straight murder trial to be held in Taos in the death of 22-year-old Juan Alcantar in September 2003.
Here’s what the Albuquerque Journal reported last Friday:
The fourth defendant to stand trial for murder in the 2003 death of a Mexican national was found not guilty Thursday by a Taos jury, which took only an hour and a half to decide his fate after a two-day trial.
Acquitted of charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder was 55-year-old Elias Romero, who took the stand in his own defense to deny the allegations that he supplied a syringe filled with heroin and ordered co-conspirators to fatally inject 22-year-old Juan Alcantar.
A Taos jury on Monday convicted Luis “Tablas” Trujillo, 35, of first-degree murder and other charges for his part in the September 2003 of Juan Alcantar — the third defendant to be found guilty of the murder this month, The Taos News reported.
Alcantar, who lived in Questa, was found burned inside his car at a Taos church parking lot after having been beaten and injected with a lethal dose of heroin, the News reported.
Steve Tollardo, 34, and Lawrence “Pifas” Gallegos, 28, were found guilty of murder and other charges earlier this month, the paper said.
The final defendant, Elias “Baby” Romero, 55, is scheduled to go on trial today, the News reported.
7:55am 2/22/08 — Third Murder Trial Under Way in Taos: Two already convicted in 2003 death of Mexican national.
The third of four scheduled trials of men accused in the 2003 death of Mexican national Juan Alcantar-Zarazua got under way in Taos Thursday with prosecutors claiming that 35-year-old Luis “Tablas” Trujillo struck the first blow and drove fellow defendants to the church parking lot where the victim was burned alive, The Taos News reported.
Alcantar, whose age has been variously given as 21 and 22, was given a lethal injection of heroin, strangled, suffocated, then set on fire by four men who conspired to kill him and cover up the evidence by burning Alcantar’s car and body, according to an earlier Albuquerque Journal report.
Two defendants already have been convicted in a series of separate trials being held in state District Court in Taos.
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The first defendant, 34-year-old Steve Tollardo was found guilty of murder in a trial that ended on Feb. 15, and on Wednesday 28-year-old Lawrence Gallegos was convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated arson and kidnapping, plus three counts of conspiracy, the Journal reported this week.
Trujillo is facing the same charges in a trial that is expected to wrap up on Monday, The Taos News reported.
The fourth defendant, 55-year-old Elias “Baby” Romero, is expected to follow next week, the paper said.
Trujillo’s trial began Thursday with his defense attorney, Daniel Salazar, claiming that the state’s case was based on the “lies” of 27-year-old Michelle Martinez, who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder Alcantar and is serving 15 years in prison, The Taos News reported.
Final trial begins in 2003 murder
Posted Wednesday, February 27, 2008 5:00 pm
By Chandra Johnson
A jury heard opening statements Tuesday (Feb. 26) in the trial of a man accused of murdering a 21-year-old man in 2003.
Elias “Baby” Romero, 55, faces charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for his alleged part in the murder of Juan Alcántar, a Mexican national who was living with his girlfriend in Questa at the time of his death.
Romero is accused, among other things, of allegedly providing the syringe of heroin used to inject and kill Alcántar, whose body was found burning in a car in a church parking lot after being beaten and injected with a lethal dose of heroin in September of 2003.
Three other men in the case have already faced trial ahead of Romero. Luis “Tablas” Trujillo and Lawrence “Pifas” Gallegos were both convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, aggravated arson and three more charges of conspiracy. Steve Tollardo was found guilty of the same charges except aggravated arson and conspiracy to commit aggravated arson.
Deputy district attorney Jeff McElroy told the jury that although Romero faces fewer charges than the other men, his role was still paramount in Alcántar’s death.
“This defendant prepared a syringe of heroin and sent his 21-year-old girlfriend, Michelle Martínez, out to inject and kill Juan Alcántar,” McElroy said. “With that, he was sending his own message.”
But defense attorney Steve Aarons assured the jury that the evidence would show that Romero was a victim of circumstance.
“Don’t let Michelle Martínez take you for a ride. She’s the only one who claims that Elias was somehow involved,” Aarons said. “In the end, we don’t have to rely on Michelle Martínez’s testimony. Whoever Elias Romero is and whatever he’s done in his life, he is not guilty of murder.”
If convicted, Romero could face life in prison.
