As trial opens in Santa Fe DJ's shooting death, suspect to argue self-defense

Mar. 1—Amber Gurule took the stand Wednesday in a Santa Fe courtroom, speaking about the final months in the life of her husband, local radio disc jockey Pete Gurule.

The couple were living separately and her husband began self-medicating amid the coronavirus pandemic with alcohol and other substances, according to Amber Gurule's testimony. She said she filed for divorce in December 2020; a month later, 40-year-old Pete Gurule, a father of two, was dead.

Police, prosecutors and even a defense attorney say Edwin Anaya, 35, shot and killed Pete Gurule in the early morning hours of Jan. 18, 2021, at Gurule's home on Rancho Siringo Road in the midtown area. Anaya, whose trial on a charge of second-degree murder began Wednesday in state District Court, says he shot Gurule in self-defense after the well-known KSFR DJ sexually assaulted and battered him.

Dan Cron, Anaya's attorney, said his client had met with Gurule socially just three times prior to their fatal hangout. The two had decided to go target shooting Jan. 18, which is why Anaya had a handgun during the get-together the night before at Gurule's home, Cron said.

The two drank alcohol, smoked marijuana and listened to music together before Anaya became tired and went to sleep on Gurule's couch, Cron told the court in his opening statements.

Anaya awoke to find Gurule's clothed genitals in his face, the attorney said. Anaya told Gurule to stop, but instead he became more sexually aggressive, Cron told the court.

The two got into a physical fight in which Anaya was afraid of losing consciousness, or even having his neck snapped, Cron said, and he eventually grabbed his gun and shot Gurule once in the chest.

The attorney showed jurors photos of Anaya after the shooting, when police found him scarcely clothed and lying on a sidewalk at a nearby intersection on the cold winter night. He was bloodied. A criminal complaint at the time said he was treated for a broken nose.

"If it's not apparent to you right now, this is a self-defense case," Cron said.

The proceeding was delayed for a few hours Wednesday as the court decided whether or not a woman who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Gurule years earlier should be allowed to testify. The case was not prosecuted, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Anthony Long.

District Judge T. Glenn Ellington decided to exclude the woman's testimony.

State prosecutor JoHanna Cox told jurors in her opening statements they would hear two versions of the incident. There was an argument between Anaya and Gurule, she said, but the defendant was the only one without clothes on.

Anaya and Gurule had conversations in the days and hours before the shooting — none of which involved sexual undertones or innuendos, Cox added.

"There was nothing at the scene — you'll hear from the detectives — consistent with an alleged sexual assault, or an attempted, alleged sexual assault," she said.

Amber Gurule was the first person to testify Wednesday as the prosecution began to make its case. She told the jury she had met her husband in 2007 while they were both studying to become massage therapists, and there was an instant connection.

"Food and laughter and music were the things that connected us at first," she said.

The couple married, opened a massage practice and had two young sons. However, over time, Amber Gurule said, she and her husband began growing apart. They wanted different things in life, which she said started to drive a wedge in their relationship.

The widow said she suffered from depression toward the end of the marriage, which in turn caused her to have a low libido. She gave her husband permission to have other partners.

"[We] knew we were coming to the end. ... I thought that would be easier," Amber Gurule said.

Long and Cron both asked Amber Gurule if her husband was a highly sexual person. She told the attorneys Pete Gurule was bisexual and loved having sex.

"It was fun for him. It was a release. It was a way to connect and show love," Amber Gurule said. "It wasn't ever about dominance or, you know — he never forced me to do anything. It was always with respect."

During his cross examination of Amber Gurule, Cron asked her if she was ever present when her husband had sexual encounters with men near the end of his life and how he behaved at those times.

"Obviously not," she said.

Santa Fe police Detective Brandon Martinez also took the stand. He said he had been working a graveyard shift the night of the shooting and responded to a 911 call from Anaya reporting to emergency dispatchers he had been shot.

Lapel camera video was presented to the jury during Martinez's testimony, showing officers finding Anaya lying on a sidewalk. Anaya tells Martinez and other officers in the video he was the shooter. He moves in and out of consciousness as he responds to officers' questions.

"I shot him, I shot him ... because he attacked me, man. It was a war. ... I was trying to go," Anaya says in the lapel camera footage.

Long asked Martinez if Anaya said he had been sexually assaulted during his initial encounter with police. The detective said he made no such claim.