The McKinley County Sheriff’s Office has begun an investigation into the death of John Craddock, a teacher in the Gallup-McKinley County School system.
Craddock, 65, died from a subdural hematoma caused by injuries suffered at the teacherage at Tse’ Yi’ Gai High School on March 16.
According to the police report, based on Inv. Robert Turney’s interview with Jeremy Alire on May 29, he described his relationship with Craddock as a nephew to an uncle, and said he traveled from Albuquerque to Craddock’s home in Cuba to get some coffee and pick up the mail because he was expecting a settlement check.
When Craddock got home from school, Alire said he looked “pale.”
Alire said he decided to go to a nearby store to cash the check, and that he gave Craddock three ibuprofens before heading off. Craddock also said he was going to take a bath. When Alire got back 15 minutes later, he began talking to Craddock from the living room but he reportedly received no response.
When he went to the bathroom, he said he saw Craddock slumped down in the tub with the water up to his nose. There was no landline or cell phones in the house, so he said he went to a neighbor’s house to call the police.
The neighbor came back with him and they waited “a long time” for the ambulance to arrive. Craddock was alive and spitting up tobacco and had a bleeding cut above his eye, Alire said.
Craddock was first taken to Milan and then transported to a trauma center in Albuquerque for treatment where he died a few days later.
At the time of the initial interview, Alire said he had nothing to do with the injuries Craddock suffered. He said Craddock was upset at his decision to go to Albuquerque but they were not arguing that day.
When Turney was asked why the investigation is just getting underway, he said the sheriff’s office only found out a few days ago that Craddock had died in Albuquerque, and they are now having to start the investigation from the beginning and interview people.
