Suspects accused of murdering couple near Hatch enter pleas in court
The man and woman arrested in connection with a double homicide north of Hatch pled not guilty in district court Monday.
Luis Flores, 29, and Cristal Cardenas, 30, were arrested in Las Cruces Wednesday afternoon for the murder, which happened in late March. Both suspects will be held without bond, pending a hearing Friday.
Sheriff’s deputies and a Hatch police officer were dispatched to a property near Carriage Hills Road in Garfield, just before 9 a.m. on a Sunday in late March.
When they arrived, they found the bodies of a man and a woman who appeared to have been shot to death. The woman was later identified as Vanessa Rodriguez Mora, 32, and the man was identified as Mario Cabral, 34.
On scene, ABC-7 located a shattered glass sliding door in the rear of the mobile home. At the property, our crew also discovered a trampoline and children’s bikes, but police would not confirm if children lived at the property.
ABC-7’s New Mexico Mobile Newsroom spoke with Cabral’s sister Monday. The woman was emotional talking about her brother and said Cardenas’ “smirk” in court was a “slap in the face” to the families of the victims.
“She thinks she’s going to get away with it,” Cabral’s sister said, “Right now, it’s just a lot of hate and anger that I have. That I’ve built up. We just want justice.”
“He was a great dad. He tried to do everything for his daughter,” the victim’s sister told ABC-7, “He’s always going to be dearly missed. That’s my brother. That’s my only brother. I wish I had another day to keep on letting him know how much I love him and how much I’m going to miss him.”
