Two in custody for beating death of missing Vegas woman
The search for a missing Las Vegas woman ended with the discovery of charred human remains in Mora County. Two people have been arrested in connection to the death, according to Las Vegas police.
Amber J. Archuleta, 28, and John T. Sanders, 24, face multiple charges in the death of 29-year-old Cassandra Lucero of Las Vegas. Archuleta and Sanders were arrested Oct. 28 and booked into the San Miguel County Detention Center.
Lucero was reported missing Sept. 28, though, according to court records, police believe she’d been missing since Sept. 21. An arrest affidavit filed in Mora Magistrate Court shows that by Oct. 9, investigators had learned Lucero had been killed, and Archuleta was a suspect.
A witness reported seeing Archuleta at a home in the 900 block of Tilden Street in late September, and said Archuleta got into a red minivan, which she believed Archuleta had taken from someone without permission. Witnesses also reported seeing Archuleta cleaning the interior of the vehicle, and they believe she may have been attempting to remove blood stains.
A maroon Chrysler Town & Country minivan was reported stolen Sept. 21, and on Oct. 9, a Las Vegas police investigator located the minivan at an Allsup’s, being driven by it’s legal owner. Inside the vehicle, the investigator spotted what looked like blood stains, and the owner told police Archuleta had been in possession of the van for days after taking it without permission. The owner said Archuleta returned the van Sept. 24.
LVPD executed a search warrant for the van on Oct. 10 and located “a significant amount of suspected blood stains” on the doors and on the back rows of seating, according to arrest affidavits filed in Mora Magistrate Court. The van also had damage to the undercarriage “consistent with the vehicle hitting objects or getting stuck.”
On Oct. 11, a witness told police she’d gotten a phone call from Archuleta’s brother saying someone had been on his ranch, and that there were tire tracks and signs that someone had gotten a vehicle stuck.
Police obtained a warrant on Oct. 13 for the ranch in Ojo Feliz, an unincorporated part of Mora County. In a fire pit on the ranch they located charred human remains.
Chief of Police Adrian Crespin told the Optic that investigators believe the remains belong to Lucero.
“Human remains were found—what we believe to be Ms. Cassandra Lucero’s remains, but we haven’t got confirmation from (the Office of the Medical Investigator),” Crespin said. “That’s going to take awhile.”
A spokesman for OMI confirmed Monday a positive identification has not yet been determined.
Crespin said he believes Archuleta and Sanders are responsible for Lucero’s death, and doesn’t believe anyone else was directly involved.
“We worked diligently, and we collaborated with New Mexico State Police, Mora sheriff’s department and San Miguel County sheriff’s department,” Crespin said. “It’s a heinous crime, and it wasn’t the outcome we wanted.”
Police believe Lucero died between Sept. 19 and 22. During an Oct. 27 interview with investigators, Sanders said he had driven the minivan with Archuleta and Lucero as passengers to purchase crack cocaine on “the block,” a stretch of Chavez Street on the west side, according to arrest affidavits.
Sanders said Lucero asked to be dropped off at a mobile home park near Seventh Street and Harris Road, but instead, Sanders drove to the Ojo Feliz ranch. He told investigators that during the drive, Archuleta began hitting Lucero, and that Archuleta continued to beat Lucero “intermittently” all the way to the ranch, according to arrest affidavits. He said by the time they arrived at the ranch, Lucero was dead.
Sanders also admitted to helping Archuleta burn Lucero’s body in the fire pit, a fire they kept going for two days, according to the affidavits. He told investigators he and Archuleta also burned their clothes because they were covered in blood. He said that as they were leaving the ranch, the van got stuck on a hill.
Archuleta has been charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, tampering with evidence, conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence, kidnapping and kidnapping conspiracy.
Sanders has been charged with kidnapping, kidnapping conspiracy, tampering with evidence and conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence.
Prosecutors have filed motions in District Court to hold Archuleta and Sanders without bond until trial. In the motions, prosecutors cite lengthy criminal histories for both Archuleta and Sanders, and that Sanders has failed to appear in court five times. Prosecutors note that Archuleta has failed to appear 17 times, and cite past probation violations, and her history as an absconder where in 2015, she evaded custody for five months, according to the motion.
Both Archuleta and Sanders remained in custody at SMCDC as of this writing.