El Paso.- Four days after the murder and carjacking of an elderly man in Santa Fe shocked residents of the city, Las Cruces Police Department (LCPD) tracked down and arrested suspect Zachary Babitz following a violent incident in that city.
Babitz, 38, a man with a criminal record who had been released from a New Mexico prison in March, was arrested Saturday night and booked into the Doña Ana County Jail on several Santa Fe charges, including first-degree murder and robbery.
He is accused of killing Gordon Wilson, 83, early Tuesday in a Best Buy parking lot and stealing Wilson’s vehicle. The death of the Las Campanas resident, a retired investment and mutual fund manager with a passion for archaeology, was the second homicide in the city this year.
Surveillance video from a nearby store shows Wilson being attacked after parking his Jeep Grand Cherokee and exiting the vehicle, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Babitz “will be extradited to Santa Fe to answer for the murder of Gordon Wilson,” Santa Fe Police Capt. Thomas Grundler announced at a news conference Sunday.
“Nothing can replace the loss of a life, but I hope Mr. Wilson’s family can find some solace in the fact that his killer has been caught and will be held accountable for his crimes,” Grundler said.
He added that the timeline for Babitz’s return to Santa Fe remains undefined as it will depend on the Las Cruces Police Department and any additional charges Babitz may face in the southern part of the state.
Las Cruces police found Babitz after receiving reports of an armed robbery and carjacking at an Arby’s restaurant, according to a message posted on the department’s Facebook account.
Around 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Babitz and an alleged accomplice, who has not yet been identified by police, were accused of pointing a firearm at a restaurant employee and demanding money, then forcing a woman out of her car and fleeing in the vehicle, according to Las Cruces police.
The car crashed about two miles away, according to the post. Although both suspects fled the crash, police found and arrested Babitz nearby.
“The Santa Fe Police Department would like to thank the Las Cruces Police Department for capturing Mr. Babitz and getting a dangerous, repeat offender off the streets,” Santa Fe Deputy Police Chief Ben Valdez wrote in a news release Sunday.
Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber also issued a statement Sunday about the arrest. “I am grateful to the Santa Fe Police Department, the Las Cruces Police Department and the other law enforcement agencies who worked together to mount a swift and effective manhunt for the suspect in the brutal murder of Gordon Wilson,” the mayor said.
“I am also grateful that, to our knowledge, the fugitive did not seriously injure anyone else in New Mexico during his escape from arrest,” he added. “Nothing will bring Gordon Wilson back, and our hearts go out to his family and friends. But the capture of this suspect brings us closer to justice and healing.”
After Wilson’s death, police tracked Babitz to an apartment building in southeast Albuquerque, according to an affidavit.
A witness there told officers that Babitz was his friend and used the nickname “Gunslinger.”
The witness told police that Babitz had stayed at the apartment Tuesday night. According to the affidavit, Babitz told the friend that he “did something in Santa Fe and shot someone” and that the man he shot “tried to grab the gun so he shot him.” Officers wrote that the witness told them Babitz still had the gun, a 9mm semi-automatic pistol.
Babitz was also charged Friday with the July 31 robbery of a Wells Fargo bank branch in northeast Albuquerque.
Babitz was released from prison in March after serving about five years of a 10-year sentence for convictions in a series of restaurant robberies. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, investigators believe he cut off an electronic monitor on Aug. 1.
He had ties to California but had been living in Edgewood before Wilson’s death, according to an affidavit.
Santa Fe Police Chief Paul Joye said in an interview Friday that he and other officers believe Wilson’s killing represents “a failure at the state level” to keep a man with a violent criminal history behind bars. One new law that could help, he said, would be the imposition of mandatory minimum sentences when a firearm is used in the commission of a crime.
“A big frustration for me and some of my officers is that this guy should never have been on the streets, period,” Joye said.
During Sunday’s press conference, Grundler shared that frustration.
“Mr. Babitz should never have been on our streets to commit the crime he has committed since his release from prison,” Grundler said. “I know the goal of incarceration is rehabilitation, but in the case of Zachary Babitz, this did not occur.”
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