Man charged in November shooting death in south Santa Fe

Feb. 7—Santa Fe police have charged a man with murder in the November death of 32-year-old Armando Torres Marquez, who was found shot in the head on a residential street in south-central Santa Fe.

Erik Ibarra-Salcido, 31, faces a count of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of bribery of a witness, according to online court records. He is accused of killing Torres Marquez over a debt.

Capt. Aaron Ortiz said the police department has been seeking Ibarra-Salcido since mid-November to speak with him about Torres Marquez's death. Officers believe Ibarra-Salcido is still in Santa Fe but might try to flee now that an arrest warrant has been issued, he added.

"We still believe he is here, local, and we haven't released anything because we ... do fear that he is going to flee the city, if not the country ... once the news breaks that he has an arrest warrant for murder," Ortiz said.

Investigators recently received important "cellphone forensics" and conducted interviews that corroborated witness accounts, allowing the department to move forward with charges, he said.

Ibarra-Salcido's arrest warrant affidavit — an 18-page document filed Thursday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court — contains statements from multiple witnesses who said Torres Marquez was killed after arguing with Ibarra-Salcido over a debt.

Police initially responded to reports of a man run over by a vehicle around 9:40 p.m. Nov. 14 near the intersection of Camino Capitan and Galisteo Road, according to the affidavit. However, medical personnel determined Torres Marquez had a gunshot wound to the head, and two residents on Camino Capitan told police they heard a "pop" that sounded like a firework less than an hour before police arrived.

Torres Marquez also sustained injuries to his right leg and right hand, the affidavit says.

Investigators identified Torres Marquez after he was taken to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center by matching his tattoos with those in photos provided by the Santa Fe County jail.

They visited an Aspen Loop address associated with Torres Marquez, where they spoke with his sister. She told police she had last seen her brother around 7 p.m. Nov. 14 at a credit union, where she gave him $80.

Her brother worked for a roofing company in Abiquiú, she said, and had called her the day he died to say he would be in Santa Fe that evening to pick up construction materials. According to the affidavit, Torres Marquez asked his sister for $100 to buy groceries. She agreed to give him $80, she told police, and the siblings decided to meet at the credit union branch.

"[Torres Marquez's sister] noticed a large red truck pull into the bank parking lot, and Armando got out of the front passenger seat. ... She did not recognize the male driver," the affidavit states. "She did not notice anything unusual with Armando. She stated that Armando appeared to be happy and grateful for the money."

Investigators spoke with the roofing company's owner, who confirmed Torres Marquez had worked for him and helped organize an interview with the last employee to use the company's red truck.

The employee told investigators "he was there when Armando was killed," the affidavit says.

Torres Marquez had asked him to use the company truck to drive him to Santa Fe so he could "pick up some pills," the roofing worker said. The worker recounted several stops in Santa Fe — including the credit union and a mobile home park where they picked up a third man. He said the trio made a stop at Las Acequias Park, where the third man met a woman to pick up "blues," and then they headed to Camino Capitan for a meeting, according to the affidavit.

At the meeting site, a man the roofing worker identified by the street name "Lazy" got out of a blue Subaru and knocked on the driver's side window of the truck.

" 'Lazy' asked why Armando was 'acting funny' and [said] that Armando owes 'Lazy' money," the affidavit says.

Torres Marquez apologized to Lazy — whom police later identified as Ibarra-Salcido — and offered a motorcycle to pay off his debt, the roofing worker said. Ibarra-Salcido responded by jumping on the truck, pulling out a gun and threatening Torres Marquez, according to the affidavit.

The roofing worker thought the two men were going to fight, but instead he heard a "bang" and saw Ibarra-Salcido pull Torres Marquez out of the truck and onto the ground. Ibarra-Salcido told the worker to leave "or he was next," he told police.

The roofer drove to Abiquiú, he told detectives, adding Ibarra-Salcido followed him. The man said he did not want to reach out to law enforcement about the shooting because "he knows that 'Lazy' has uncles who are in the Juarez Cartel."

Ortiz said police are still investigating whether there are any ties between Ibarra-Salcido and a Mexican drug cartel.

Police received additional information on Torres Marquez's death during an interview with Michael Sweeney, 31, who was arrested Jan. 1 by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office on a murder charge in the November slaying of 26-year-old Adan Ponce Galdeano.

Sweeney told investigators he had overheard Ibarra-Salcido talk about the shooting a few weeks before his arrest and said Torres Marquez had a $10,000 bounty on his head.

Investigators had a Feb. 1 interview with the third man in the truck with Torres Marquez and his co-worker at the time of the shooting, according to the affidavit. The witness called Torres Marquez's death an accident, saying "Lazy" had "stepped on the running boards of the truck and slipped and shot Armando."

The witness also alleged Torres Marquez's co-worker was the one who had pushed Torres Marquez out of the truck after he was shot in the head, and then ran over his body as he drove away, according to the affidavit.

Ibarra-Salcido threatened him a few weeks later, the witness added. He said Torres Marquez "owed a lot of money" but indicated his death was over just $1,200.