A man from Mexican Springs, New Mexico, named Timothy Chischilly recently pled guilty to second-degree murder.

Chischilly, 53, and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and his co-defendant, Stacey Yellowhorse, were indicted by a federal grand jury on Aug. 11, 2020. According to publicly available court documents, Chischilly and Yellowhorse, his then girlfriend, invited a woman to sleep over at Chilschilly’s house within the exterior boundaries of the Navajo Nation on the night of Jan. 23, 2020.

During the night, Chischilly and Yellowhorse killed the woman by nailing her to the floor, hammering a nail into her head, and bludgeoning her to death. Afterwards, Chischilly and Yellowhorse burned the victim's body and spread the remains at different locations.

Chischilly confessed to the murder to his family days later.

Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, announced on Feb. 7 that Chischilly pleaded guilty in federal court to second degree murder. Chischilly will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.

At sentencing, Chischilly faces up to life in prison.

Yellowhorse remains in custody pending trial, which is currently scheduled for March 25.

The Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Nation Police Department and the Gallup Police Department.   Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly Brawley and Tavo Hall are prosecuting the case.