Background: The Albuquerque, N.M., home where Christopher Fallen was found dead on Feb. 6, 2024 (Google Maps). Inset (left): Daniel Hadders (Albuquerque Police Department). Inset (right): Christopher Fallen (French Funerals & Cremations).
A New Mexico man has been found guilty of first-degree murder after he killed a research scientist who had let him live in his home.
Daniel Hadders, 38, was convicted by a jury on Tuesday in connection with the asphyxiation death of 46-year-old Christopher Fallen. Fallen, who was the chief scientist at Fourth State Communications in Cheyenne, Wyoming, was found dead in his Albuquerque home on Feb. 6, 2024, by his coworkers. According to Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman, Fallen was found with his head “wrapped in tape” and “a belt was secured around his neck.”
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According to the Albuquerque Police Department, Hadders met Fallen through his friend Andres Chavez, who had struck up a relationship with Fallen after connecting with him on a dating app. Chavez was known to Fallen”s father as a “roommate,” but Chavez told police that he and Fallen had a sexual relationship while he was allowed to live in the home to “get on his feet and look for a job.” Albuquerque Police said that Chavez told them the last time he was in Fallen’s home was Feb. 1, 2024.
Between Feb. 2 and Feb. 5, 2024, Chavez was exchanging messages over social media, texts, and phone calls with Hadders, including a photo of Fallen “sitting on his bed with his hands bound together by a piece of clothing.” Police detectives said, “A shirt was placed over his eyes, preventing him from being able to see. His face and clothing were covered in blood.” They believe the photo was taken on Feb. 3, 2024.
Police said that Fallen had missed several work calls, causing his colleagues so much concern that they traveled to his home in Albuquerque on Feb. 6, 2024. They had to break into the home, where they found Fallen bound with duct tape. His head was also “wrapped in tape” and a plastic bag with a belt “secured around his neck.” Fallen’s cause of death was determined to be asphyxiation.
Police arrived at Fallen’s home and found that it had been robbed, and Fallen’s car had been stolen along with several electronic devices. Legal paperwork was also found in the home that had Hadders’s name on it.
On Feb. 6, 2024, police tracked down Fallen’s car to a Starbucks. Hadders was one of two people found inside the car, and both were detained by police. Inside the car, police found records, credit cards, “paperwork with Fallen’s email address and PIN numbers,” and keys that belonged to Fallen, as well as four cellphones and documentation with Chavez’s information.
Hadders told police that he knew Chavez, but said that he had bought the car. According to a criminal complaint obtained by the Albuquerque Journal, Hadders and Chavez were friends who lived on the street, and Fallen would allow both men to stay at his home.
Charges were filed against Chavez and Hadders, but Chavez fled to El Paso, Texas, where he was found dead of a drug overdose.
Hadders, however, went to trial on charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, aggravated burglary, conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary, three counts of tampering with evidence, three counts of conspiracy to tamper with evidence, three counts of receiving stolen property, receiving or transferring a stolen motor vehicle, dealing in credit cards of another, and fraudulent use of a credit card.
On Tuesday, he was found guilty by a jury. Bregman said, “This was a calculated and horrific act of violence, and thanks to the tireless work of our prosecutors and investigators, the jury held the defendant accountable.”
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