A Zuni man has pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter after he reportedly killed a man and buried him in a shallow grave in a friend's backyard.
According to his plea agreement, Brian Wallace, an enrolled member of the Zuni Pueblo, admitted that he killed a man sometime between July 5 and Aug. 9, and buried him in a shallow grave in the backyard of a friend’s house. In October, Wallace, 44, informed law enforcement of what had happened and where the man's body was located. The body was recovered and the Office of Medical Investigator determined that the victim had died from blunt force trauma to his chest.
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 that Wallace pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter May 4. Wallace will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.
By the terms of the plea agreement, Wallace faces up to 12 years in prison.
The Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Zuni Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas J. Marshall is prosecuting the case.
