A Gallup man was booked for first degree murder and tampering with evidence April 20 for the murder of Gallup resident 57-year-old Jami Nechero.

Randolph "Randy" Schmaltz reportedly left plenty of clues for police to arrest him for the murder, as revealed in the arrest warrant.

When Gallup Police Department officers arrived at the 1700 block of South Cliff Drive on Sept. 2, 2014, at 1:22 pm, in response to shots fired, they talked to the caller who said that she heard at least six gunshots in a row, coming from a home north of her residence.

Officer Douglas Hoffman made his way over to that home at 1710 South Cliff Dr., the home of Schmaltz, 64, who greeted the officer at the door with his small dog on a leash. Hoffman eventually handcuffed Schmaltz, and that's when he began to make "spontaneous utterances," saying "she shot herself" and "she killed herself" to the officers present at the scene, the arrest warrant states.

Officers made their way to the bedroom and found Jami Nechero on the bed, deceased. It appeared to she died from a gunshot wound to the face, possibly self-inflicted.

"Officer Douglas Hoffman stated that on Jami Nechero's upper chest was a handgun, the barrel was resting on Jami's neck area, and her left hand was lying on the handgun," the warrant states. "The handgun is described as a semi-automatic pistol silver in color."

As Hoffman began to take a look around the home he noticed some things that struck him as odd. Hoffman stated that as he stood near the front door, he noticed a washing machine with its lid open. The washer had clothes in it and was filled with water, but not running. He looked down at the tile and noticed some possible dried drops of blood.

Hoffman stepped out the door to let other officers know to keep an eye on Schmaltz as he may have forensic evidence on his body. As he proceeded to get Schmaltz's dog some water from the kitchen, he noticed drops of blood on the floor. It was at that moment that Hoffman asked for all officers to leave until detectives arrived on scene.

When GPD Detective Neil Yazzie arrived, Hoffman told him about some rugs by the front door that appeared wet, as if recently cleaned.

Meanwhile, Schmaltz was transferred to the police department for questioning by former GPD Capt. Rick White and Det. Steven Collins. Wet swabs were taken of the blood spatter on his arms and legs. During this procedure, Schmaltz made two attempts to wipe the blood off, and each time it came with a warning for him to stop the attempts.

During the interview, Schmaltz said that when he woke up on the fateful morning, Nechero was making statements about wanting to commit suicide. He said that he cut up a sandwich and fed it to her, which she choked on. He said that he had to perform the "Heimlich Maneuver" on her. And he also brought up that he had to call a local plumber to take care of a water leak and had the receipts to prove that he purchased a sandwich and paid the plumber.

Next, Schmaltz cleaned off the rest of the blood, then complained of chest pain. He was taken to a local hospital and later flown to Albuquerque for further treatment. That's all the warrant report reveals about the first interview.

During the crime scene investigation, Office of the Medical Investigator Richard Malone and Yazzie confirmed that Nechero was holding a gun in her hand, but the amount of "blow back blood splatter on the Kimber handgun" didn't match the blood surrounding the victim's face. It also appeared that someone tried to wipe areas of the scene clean. There were also bullet holes in the box springs that penetrated the floorboards, and one in the ceiling panel. This would line up with what the first witness reported – that multiple shots were fired. Another neighbor interviewed also heard multiple shots fired.

A Smith and Wesson .44 caliber revolver was also found in a bedroom drawer, which reportedly had human blood and tissue on it, was taken into evidence.

After an arduous investigation, and multiple interviews, including Schmaltz's ex-wife, who reported that she was assaulted by him during their marriage, resulted in his arrest.

Schmaltz is currently being held at McKinley County Adult Detention Center on a $50,000 cash only bond. He's scheduled for a preliminary examination hearing in Magistrate Judge Kenneth Howard's chamber at 1:30 pm on May 3 .

UPDATE: IN CUSTODY

Man faces forgery, identity theft charges

A Gallup man, wanted on theft of identity and forgery charges, is on the wanted list of Gallup police, according to information obtained from Magistrate Court. An arrest warrant was signed April 19.

According to a criminal complaint on the matter, Josh Cucciardi, 33, is the primary suspect connected to a series of forged checks that were cashed at Perry Null Trading Company and which later cleared at Pinnacle Bank in Gallup. The checks did not belong to Cucciardi and were written out in the name of another person. The Gallup Sun is not revealing the name of the person in which the checks were written out to.

Cucciardi’s last known address is 208 E. Maple Avenue in Gallup. Cucciardi is a Gallup native with family that lives in the city.

The person that the check was written out to informed investigators that the residence of his parents was burglarized a couple of years ago and this may be how Cucciardi got ahold of the personal banking information. The victim met with police and provided signature samples in the presence of an attorney. The signatures did not match.

A warrant was served on an associate of Cucciardi at that time revealed several copies of identification cards, and modified blank and filled out checks, according to the criminal complaint. Gallup police have evidence that Cucciardi indeed cashed at least one check at Perry Null’s using an altered ID.

The bond amount issued by Magistrate Court is $10,000. Lt. Roseanne Morrissette, public information officer with the Gallup Police Department, classified the situation as white collar crime. Morrissette said it’s a matter of time before police apprehend Cucciardi.

By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent

Funding still necessary to tackle problem

One of the first things one noticed when walking into the April 11 stakeholders meeting on how to best go about combatting Gallup and McKinley County’s substance abuse problem is that area professionals area ready and willing to work toward education and prevention.

But to really get at things, funding is key. That, in part, was the consensus that came out of a 90-meeting called by U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and held at the Gallup-McKinley County Student Support Center.

“This is to get the various behavioral health professionals together and talk about what the problem is from various standpoints,” Lujan said. “This is about how we can work together to give the best support that we can. I thought we heard some very worthwhile collaborative feedback today.”

Gallup’s Behavioral Health Investment Zone received $500,000 last year, an amount matched by the city. But there developed a shortage of additional funding when a bill put through the legislature got vetoed by Gov. Susana Martinez. At the time, Martinez noted that administratively funding the bill was best — as opposed to putting the financial onus on the state legislature. The end result was a allocated split of $1 million between Rio Arriba and McKinley counties. The former consistently has the highest number of drug related deaths in New Mexico on a yearly basis.

“It’s something that communities everywhere struggle with,” Emma Muhammad, a behavioral health specialist from Zuni Pueblo, said during the meeting. “This was a good meeting to at least talk about and address the issues.”

David Conejo, chief executive officer at Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital, said RMCH is in the midst of instituting a comprehensive program on substance abuse treatment, housing, transportation and job search.

“We’re making the focus emergency shelter and work rehabilitation,” Conejo said. “The goal is to integrate people back into the community to the point of self-sustainability.”

Lt. Billy Padavich of the Gallup Police Department said such substance abuse is definitely a problem throughout Gallup and McKinley County. The local drugs of choice are heroin and methamphetamine, Padavich told the little more than dozen panel members gathered.

“Sometimes the majority of calls we get are drug-related,” Padavich said. “A lot of times the people in question are taken to NCI and then get out and are back at it again.”

Ken Collins, the former executive director at the San Juan Center for Independence, has worked at RMCH since February. He handles the job search component for what RMCH’s behavioral health component seeks to do.

“You have to help people find jobs once they shake addiction or substance,” Collins said. “Recovery is only part of the process.”

McKinley County Commissioner Bill Lee pointed out that Martinez recently vetoed SB 47 that would have broadened the 911 Good Samaritan Law immunity to cover individuals who are on probation/parole, ensuring those in need of help will request it without fear of legal repercussions. New Mexico has the highest drug overdose rate in the United States for most of the past two decades. Expanding the 911 Good Samaritan Law to cover people who are on probation or parole would have helped improve emergency overdose responses and save lives, the bill’s supporters claim.“Of course the passing of that bill would have helped,” Lee said. “These are tough times.”

Mary Lindenmeyer of Gallup-McKinley County Schools said students at McKinley County schools are vulnerable to substance abuse.

“I think social networks have to be in place as part of the prevention methods,” Lindenmeyer said. “We can’t overlook students who are on the verge of addiction.”

Lujan said a follow up meeting would take place in a couple of months. The meeting was the second such meeting spearheaded by Lujan in Gallup since December 2016.

By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent

Festival brings out nearly 1,600

Adults and young people alike explored the many different worlds of books April 7 at the 3^rd annual Gallup Authors Festival. The two-day event was held at the Octavia Fellin Library and saw a little more than 1,600 people pass through the doors of Fellin and the Children’s Branch Library.

The theme of the 2017 Gallup Authors Festival was “Unity Through Diversity.”

“It was a tremendous success,” Library Director Mary Ellen Pellington said. “We had a variety of writers and every year there are more and more people who attend the festival.”

The event featured book talks and discussions such as one called “Diversity in Poetry.” That discussion was led by Navajo Nation Poet Laureate Laura Tohe and former Albuquerque Poet Laureate Jessica Lopez. Tohe holds a Ph.D in English from the University of Nebraska.

“I thought it was a very good showing and there were a lot of interesting questions asked,” Lopez said. Lopez has been a featured writer for 30 Poets in their 30s by Muzzle, and named one of the “10 Up and Coming Lantinx Poets You Need To Know.” Added Lopez, “I hope to be at this festival again next year.”

John Taylor of Gallup was at the festival for the second consecutive year. Taylor, originally from Kentucky, last year debuted the book, “Looking for Dan: The Puzzling Life of a Frontier Character-Daniel DuBois.” Taylor noted that he’s in the beginning of research on a new book entitled, “Navajo Scouts.”

“It’s a wonderful place to get the word out about books that you already have published,” Taylor said. “It’s also a very good place to network with people in the profession.”

Martin Link was on-hand at the festival for the third straight year. Link, a Wisconsin native and long-time Gallup resident, published his first book, “Navajo: A Century of Progress 1868-1968.” That book came out in 1968.

Link’s past publications include “The Goat in the Rug and “The Signers of the Treaty of Peace.” Link recently published “New Mexico Kicks on Route 66.”

Link and Taylor are retired instructors from the University of New Mexico-Gallup.

Pellington said there were 37 authors that attended the 2017 authors festival, which is a little more than the past couple of years. She said preliminary organizational work for the 2018 festival has already begun.

Those who attended the festival appeared to like what it offered. “I like coming to this festival because it’s in Gallup and all in one place,” Karen Yazzie, 50, of Window Rock, Ariz., said. “My kids like it a lot.”

By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent