New Mexico Supreme Court upholds 2 murder convictions of man in 2009 double homicide case

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Supreme Court on Monday upheld two first-degree murder convictions of a man found guilty in a 2009 double homicide case.

Robert Chavez was convicted in 2022 in the killings of Max Griego Jr. and Mary Hudson Gutierrez and sentenced to two consecutive life prison sentences.

Chavez appealed the sentences to the state’s high court, saying there was insufficient evidence to convict him of the murders based on uncorroborated testimony from accomplices. His team also argued that the district court erred when it used segments of his recorded jail telephone calls as evidence.

But the Supreme Court ruled the accomplice testimony was corroborated, there was sufficient evidence to convict Chavez and the district court didn’t abuse its discretion in its evidentiary rulings.

Chavez’s sentences are running consecutive with previous sentences, including a 26-year prison term for drug trafficking and life in prison plus 21 years for another murder.

Prosecutors said Chavez was the leader of the “AZ Boys,” an organization allegedly connected to drug trafficking.

Court records show Griego and Hudson Gutierrez were found fatally shot in July 2009 at a home in Alamogordo, a small town about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of the border. Two men plus a driver were seen fleeing the scene, according to the documents.

The case went cold for almost a decade until Chavez and two other suspects were indicted in January 2019.