New Mexico

NM high court upholds man's convictions in 2018 triple homicide

Published

2 years ago

May 8, 2024

NM high court upholds man's convictions in 2018 triple homicide

The New Mexico Supreme Court has upheld a man’s murder convictions in the 2018 shooting deaths of three people near the community of Dixon.

In a unanimous decision, the state’s high court concluded Monday that there was sufficient evidence to support John Powell’s convictions of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated burglary in 2020.

The bodies of April Browne, 42; Abraham Martinez, 36; and Kierin Guillemin, 27, were found in a Rio Arriba County home a few miles from Dixon.

FUGITIVE SHOOTING SUSPECT ARRESTED WITHOUT INCIDENT IN NORTHERN ARIZONA

Authorities said a surveillance camera recorded the killings and theft of a safe and other items from Browne’s home by Powell and his brother, Roger Gage.

Gage was convicted separately in the case and sentenced to life in prison.

The New Mexico Supreme Court has upheld the homicide convictions of John Powell.

Last year, the state Supreme Court affirmed Gage’s convictions of three counts of first-degree willful and deliberate murder.

Authorities said Powell and his brother drove for more than an hour to reach Browne’s house purportedly to get tools and buy drugs.

Chief Justice David K. Thomson wrote in the high court’s nonprecedential decision that “the entire assault, including removing the safe and laptops, lasted only 52 seconds.

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“A juror could reasonably determine that the precisely choreographed actions in the video demonstrate the type of careful thought sufficient for deliberation,” Thomson wrote.

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New Mexico

Federal court orders New Mexico prison officials to allow magazine’s delivery

Published

29 minutes ago

March 11, 2026

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Federal court orders New Mexico prison officials to allow magazine’s delivery

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New Mexico

Tanya Tucker to perform at New Mexico State Fair

Published

13 hours ago

March 10, 2026

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Tanya Tucker to perform at New Mexico State Fair

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Tanya Tucker will perform at the 2026 New Mexico State Fair, officials announced Tuesday.

Tucker will take to the stage Friday, Sept. 18, after the Chevron PRCA rodeo. The Grammy Award-winning icon has racked up 10 No. 1 country hits since her first hit, “Delta Dawn,” at age 13.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to bring the legendary Tanya Tucker to the New Mexico State Fair,” said Dan Mourning, general manager of the New Mexico State Fair. “Tanya is one of the greatest icons in country music history and is the perfect fit for the Fair.”

Tucker has 23 Top-40 albums and 56 Top 40 singles on the Billboard country music charts. She has won two Country Music Association awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, three CMT Awards and two Grammys for Best Country Album and Best Country Song.

Tickets are set to go on sale on Friday at 10 a.m.

Here is the full 2026 New Mexico State Fair rodeo-concert lineup:

Friday, Sept. 11

Turnpike Troubadours with Chevron PRCA Xtreme Bulls

Saturday, Sept. 12

Ian Munsick with Chevron PRCA Xtreme Bulls

Wednesday, Sept. 16

Chevron PRCA Standalone Rodeo

Thursday, Sept. 17

Everclear with Chevron PRCA Rodeo

Friday, Sept. 18

Tanya Tucker with Chevron PRCA Rodeo

Saturday, Sept. 19

The Warning with Chevron PRCA Rodeo

Sunday, Sept. 20

Chevron PRCA Rodeo – Matinee

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New Mexico

New Mexico prosecutors launch search of Jeffrey Epstein’s secluded former Zorro Ranch

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

New Mexico prosecutors launch search of Jeffrey Epstein’s secluded former Zorro Ranch

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — State investigators began searching a secluded ranch in New Mexico on Monday where financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein once entertained guests amid allegations that the property may have been used for sexual abuse and sex trafficking of young women.

The office of state Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced that the search was being done with the cooperation of the current ranch owners.

Torrez last month reopened an investigation of the ranch. New Mexico’s initial case was closed in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors in New York, and state prosecutors say now that “revelations outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further examination.”

Epstein purchased the sprawling Zorro Ranch in Stanley, New Mexico, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Santa Fe, in 1993 from former Democratic Gov. Bruce King and built a hilltop mansion with a private runway.

The property was sold by Epstein’s estate in 2023 — with proceeds going toward creditors — to the family of Don Huffines, a candidate in Texas for state comptroller who won the Republican primary last week.

“The New Mexico Department of Justice appreciates the cooperation of the current property owners,” the agency said in a statement. Prosecutors “will continue to keep the public appropriately informed, support the survivors, and follow the facts wherever they lead.”

Additionally, New Mexico state legislators have established a new commission to look into past activities at the ranch.

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges that he sexually abused and trafficked dozens of underage girls.

Epstein never faced charges in New Mexico, but the state attorney general’s office in 2019 confirmed that it had interviewed possible victims who visited Epstein’s ranch.

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