LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) - A 30-year-old man is accusing of killing another man seen being thrown off a highway bridge in a rural area of northern New Mexico.
Richard Joseph Griego is charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in the death of 37-year-old Jimmy Griego, whose body was found Tuesday in the Pecos River in Ribera, a village 35 miles southeast of Santa Fe.
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Clayton said Thursday the two Griegos were from the Villanueva area but not related and that authorities don’t know a possible motive.
There hasn’t yet been an official determination of cause of death, but officers observed blunt-force trauma on the body, Clayton told The Associated Press.
A New Mexico State Police arrest-warrant affidavit said a woman reported seeing Jimmy Griego being driven to the two-lane bridge in the back of a pickup and then being thrown off, the Las Vegas Optic (https://goo.gl/pCPdZq ) reported.
The affidavit said the woman said she was driving southbound on State Route 3 when a northbound pickup driven by a man who “appeared angry” went by and she saw Jimmy Griego, her cousin, on his knees in the back.
According to the affidavit, Jimmy Griego appeared terrified.
The woman said she saw the driver stop the pickup on the bridge, get out, walk to the rear, carry Jimmy Griego over his shoulder to the edge of the bridge and throw him off before getting back in the truck and driving off, the affidavit said.
The evidence-tampering charge is based on the body being thrown into the river, Clayton said.
The bridge has 34-inch-tall concrete railings on both sides, and its deck is about 22 feet above the river’s surface, said Emilee Cantrell, a New Mexico Department of Transportation spokeswoman.
Richard Griego pleaded not guilty Wednesday after being arrested and jailed Tuesday.
His defense attorney, Todd Farkas, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.
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