Documents: Authorities knew about murder-for-hire plot a month before couple was killed

Criminal complaints obtained by ABC-7’s New Mexico Mobile Newsroom reveals authorities learned about a murder-for-hire plot more than a month before a couple was shot and killed inside a mobile home in Garfield, New Mexico.

The documents were initially sealed by a district judge. They were recently unsealed and redacted.

Cristal Cardenas, 29, and Luis Flores, 30, were both charged with Murder for the March 25th killing of Mario Hernandez Cabral and Vanessa Mora. Cardenas and Flores were also charged with Conspiracy to Commit Murder and two counts of Criminal Solicitation to Commit Murder. The suspects were arrested on March 28, 2018.

The criminal complaints filed against Cardenas and Flores reveal Cardenas wanted to hire a hit-man to kill Cabral, the ex-boyfriend with whom she was involved in a bitter custody dispute. Investigators learned about the plot to kill Cabral in mid-February following the arrest of another couple in Chaves County, New Mexico.

The documents state, that on the morning of Sunday March 25, 2018, a girl awoke to find her mother, and her mother’s boyfriend, covered in blood in the living room. The child ran to a neighbor’s home to ask for help and the neighbor called 911. Hatch police officers and Doña Ana County sheriff’s deputies arrived at the home located at 3275 Carriage Hills Road in Garfield, New Mexico. Investigators said Mario Hernandez Cabral, 34, was found dead, in a pool of blood, from gunshot wounds to his head and torso. Deputies found the body of 32-year-old Vanessa Mora nearby, slouched in a couch with a gunshot wound to her head.

When investigators interviewed Mora’s daughter, she told them that days before her mother was killed, Mora told her, “if anything happens to me and I get killed, Cristal Cardenas is involved.” Days later, the girl overheard a conversation between her mother and Cabral in which Cabral told Mora a “hit had been placed on him” by Cardenas, his ex-girlfriend. The girl overheard Cabral telling Mora that he and Cardenas were involved in a legal battle “over a one million dollar house he had given Cardenas and some vehicles.”

The girl told investigators that the morning of March 25th – sometime between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. – she woke up when she heard gunshots and her mother scream “Mario!” The girl said she heard footsteps, then two more gunshots. The girl said she was scared, covered her face with her blanket and fell asleep. When she woke up in the morning, she was hoping her mother would come to the room for her. Eventually, the girl heard cell phones ringing and decided to go to the living room, where she found Mora and Cabral dead.

Investigators later spoke with Mora’s father, Jose Mora, who told them he spoke with his daughter’s boyfriend days before the killings. Cabral allegedly told Jose Mora “his ex-girlfriend (Cardenas) was going to kill him.” Further, Cabral allegedly told Jose Mora that after a recent court hearing involving Cardenas, he was told by the FBI that Cardenas had “hired someone to kill him.” The criminal complaint obtained by ABC-7 states Cabral and Cardenas were also engaged in a child custody dispute at the time of the killings.

The criminal complaint filed against Cardenas states New Mexico State Police investigators spoke with Edward Alonso, an inmate at the Doña Ana County Detention Center. Alonso allegedly told investigators he met with Cardenas in early February 2018 and that Cardenas paid Alonso $3,000 to kill her ex-boyfriend Cabral. Cardenas allegedly told Alonso she was not only in a child custody battle with Cabral, but also fighting over the house where she lives. Alonso allegedly told investigators Cardenas drove him to Cabral’s home and told him she would give him an extra $7,000 after he killed Cabral. Cardenas allegedly told Alonso that if he could not kill Cabral, her new boyfriend “would do it for her.” The criminal complaint states Alonso was arrested on February 14, 2018 and was in custody when Mora and Cabral were killed on March 25, 2018.

When FBI agents interviewed Alonso, he allegedly told them how he met Cardenas. He said that sometime in late January 2018 he was in Roswell, New Mexico with a girl and drove the girl to a home where she “could score some dope.” The girl entered the home, then came out and told Alonso to go inside the home. Alonso allegedly said that when he entered the home, Cardenas asked him if she knew someone who would “kill someone for her.” Alonso allegedly replied, “I will do it” for $10,000. Alonso allegedly demanded he be paid half the money up front, then the other half when “the job was done.”

Alonso allegedly told the FBI agents, that the next day, he followed Cardenas to Cabral’s home at 3275 Carriage Hills Road in Garfield, New Mexico. Alonso said he was riding a red Ford SportTrac and Cardenas was driving a black Cadillac CTS. Cardenas allegedly paid Alonso the $3,000 on the way back to Roswell, the document states. When Alonso asked Cardenas when she needed Cabral dead, Cardenas allegedly replied, “as soon as possible.” Cardenas allegedly sent Alonso a photo of Cabral via text message.

Alonso allegedly told the FBI that late on February 14, 2018, on his way back to Roswell after yet another drive to surveil Cabral’s home, he was pulled over by a Chaves County deputy and taken into custody. While in custody, Alonso told investigators Cardenas had hired him to kill Cabral. Alonso allegedly told investigators that Cardenas’ boyfriend, Flores, had driven with him and Cardenas to surveil Cabral’s home in Garfield.

When FBI agents interviewed the Chaves County deputy, he told them he pulled Alonso over for a speeding violation. As he approached the red SportTrac, he noticed the driver and a female passenger switching seats. Further, the deputy said he observed the driver, later identified as Alonso, trying to hid in the back of the vehicle. The woman in the truck was identified as Brianna Lucero. When the deputy asked Lucero where they were coming from, she said they were coming back from Las Cruces. The deputy allegedly found a 9mm handgun with “a large capacity magazine that contained 50 rounds of ammunition.”

While in custody, Lucero told investigators Alonso told her about the plan to kill Cabral and that he would pay Lucero $600 if she drove him to Cabral’s home. Lucero allegedly said she and Alonso met a couple in Las Cruces, the couple she believed had hired Alonso to kill Cabral. Lucero said she and Alonso followed the couple to a Walgreens, where the woman withdrew money from an ATM and gave it to Alonso.

Lucero allegedly said she drove Alonso to Cabral’s home out in the country, but Alonso was waiting for Cabral to leave the house to kill him because Alonso did not want to kill anyone else in the home. The criminal complaint states Lucero allegedly dropped off Alonso near the home and drove around the neighborhood. Lucero she got lost, but eventually found Alonso and picked him up. Lucero and Alonso then drove back to Roswell and were taken into custody after the traffic stop in Chaves County.

Cardenas and Flores are being held without bond while awaiting trial in connection with the murders of Mora and Cabral. If convicted, they could spend life in prison. New Mexico does not have the death penalty.

A HISTORY OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

ABC-7’s New Mexico Mobile Newsroom obtained dozens of 911 calls, recorded over the course of two years, that show a history of physical and verbal abuse between Cardenas and Cabral. The calls came in from a property on 4220 Doña Ana Road. Cardenas appears to live at the property, but Cabral insisted in the calls that he owns it.

There were a total of five 911 calls on one day in April 2015. Cardenas told the operator her ex-boyfriend, Cabral, had rammed his truck into her vehicle and was chasing her down San Ysidro Road.

“He ran me off the road,” Cardenas said.

Another caller reported she witnessed the chase. “They’re going at least sixty miles down the street,” the caller reported.

In September 2015, Cabral told a 911 operator Cardenas had driven his truck into a ditch. The two escalate into a verbal argument that can be heard in the recording. Cabral can be heard saying, “Stay away from me, Cristal.”

Over the course of the 911 calls, both Cardenas and Cabral disclosed to operators that they have restraining orders against each other. “I have problems with my ex,” Cardenas told an operator on February 12th, 2016.