Police in New Mexico have apprehended an Albuquerque man suspected of murdering and partially dismembering his mother.
Police booked Leroy Vallejos, 49, into the Metro Detention Center Wednesday. Vallejos allegedly confessed to strangling his mother, Ernestina Lucero, 69, approximately three weeks prior, KRQE reported.
The investigation began with a welfare check Tuesday at Lucero’s residence, located near Rhode Island and Copper NE in Albuquerque. Officers were prompted to respond after Vallejos allegedly informed a home health care provider that he hadn’t seen his mother in a week.
The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) noted that Vallejos had called the company requesting payment for Lucero’s care, despite his claim that she was absent.
Vallejos permitted APD officers to enter the home and insisted his mother had traveled to Mexico. Officers became suspicious of Vallejo’s story when they found her prescription medication inside her bedroom.
Law enforcement continued their search of the property, where they discovered garbage bags inside a large freezer. The Office of the Medical Investigator later confirmed that the contents of the bags were human remains belonging to a female.
Following the initial discovery, investigators conducted a secondary search, during which they found a saw with dried bloodstains concealed beneath the sink.
According to the APD, Vallejos gave a disturbing rationale for the crime, claiming that Lucero was conspiring with other individuals against him. He reportedly asserted that his mother belonged to a “group of people giving their lives to darkness.”
“Leroy indicated that his mother, along with numerous other family members of his, was part of a group of ‘people giving their lives to darkness,’” the affidavit stated.
“Leroy believed he had discovered that he had been ‘promised to Satan’ by his mother based upon statements he had heard from other ‘witches’ combined with his own speculation.”
Prior to the welfare check, a different family member had already reported Lucero missing. APD had consequently issued a missing persons bulletin on October 23 and formally opened an investigation.
Detectives found that Vallejos reportedly used his mother’s debit card to withdraw cash, and her vehicle had been sold sometime before Lucero was officially reported as missing.
Leroy would have surrendered, but he “loved his dogs and did not want to be separated from them,” the affidavit says.
Vallejos was arrested for an open count of murder in the first degree, preventative detention, temporary detention with evidence, and battery charges, according to the arrest report.
On November 4, Vallejos is scheduled for a detention hearing, according to People Magazine.
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[Feature Photo via Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center]
