The man killed by a motorist near Thoreau on Dec. 14 has been identified as Kenneth Benally, 65, of Crownpoint. According to a police report, Benally was hit by Megan Heintz of Cypress, Texas, at about 7 pm, near mile marker 53 near Thoreau.

According to report, Heintz told Deputy Shane Bennett of the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office that she saw a pedestrian jump into traffic from the shoulder of the roadway, but did not manage to avoid hitting the man.

She told deputies that she hit Benally as she traveled in the west bound right lane of Interstate 40, and that she stopped in the center median after the accident.

“I was driving at 75 mph in the right lane,” she said, according...

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of John W. Paradise, please call McKinley County Sheriff’s Office, Investigations Division.  Phone: (505) 863-1410 or crimestoppers at 1-877-722-6161.  John is wanted for questioning in a homicide case.

ALBUQUERQUE – The Office of Attorney General Hector Balderas appeared before Judge Benjamin Chavez Dec. 20 to argue to keep five-time convicted murderer Clifton Bloomfield in prison for the rest of his life.

Bloomfield, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to murdering five people in New Mexico, filed a writ of habeas corpus to withdraw his guilty plea.

The Office of the Attorney General Criminal Appeals Division argued to the court that Bloomfield’s petition for writ of habeas corpus should be dismissed on the pleadings, without an evidentiary hearing, because the Petitioner’s claims are refuted by the record, including the transcripts of the plea and sentencing hearings.

“Keeping a...

ALBUQUERQUE – Attorney General Hector Balderas announced Dec. 20 that Jeffrey Morrill of Albuquerque was convicted of two counts of child exploitation by distribution and one count of child exploitation by possession.

Graphic, sexual images of young girls ranging in age from six to ten were in Morrill’s possession at the time of his arrest. The defendant waived a jury trial and Second Judicial District Judge Zamora found Morrill guilty on the above mentioned counts.

“We have no higher priority than protecting our innocent children from sexual violence and exploitation,” Balderas said. “Predators need to know that if they exploit and victimize children in New Mexico, the...