Shooting raises questions over self-defense (NM)

kob.com ^ | 5 July, 2009 | Jeff Maher

[marktwain]

A bizarre shooting in Belen leaves a former corrections officer dead, and a former Marine in jail charged with his murder. The shooting is once again raising debate over what's considered self defense.

The brother of the person who was shot and the suspect's friend each have very different opinions about what happened.

The incident happened around 10:15 Saturday night at Enchantment Propane. Evidence of a break-in was still visible on Sunday. The murder that happened in the midst of the burglary is likely going to extend a long-standing debate for years to come.

Louie Gabaldon still has a lot of unanswered questions about the death of his little brother, 29-year-old Gary Gabaldon, killed on the night of July 4.

"Gary would never steal from anybody. He's not a thief, and nobody deserves to kill anybody or shoot anybody and try to justify self-defense. You don't kill anybody, you just don't," Louie Gabaldon said Sunday.

Gabaldon says his brother was a former corrections officer.

Deputies say 38-year-old Luke Sanchez, a former Marine who served as a military policeman, was driving back to his farm in Belen when he spotted Gabaldon and another suspect stealing supplies from Enchantment Propane.

They say Sanchez called police, but also drove closer to the suspects to try to get their license plate number.

Deputies say he got too close-- Gabaldon spotted him, ran over to his car and broke the driver's side window.

David Dawson is close friends with Sanchez, and says he was just defending himself.

"They were bashing his windows in and he was screaming for them to leave him alone," Dawson said.

After a short fight, deputies say Sanchez pulled out his gun and shot Gabaldon in the head, killing him.

Sanchez remained on the scene until he was arrested.

The other suspect took off and is still on the loose. The suspect's vehicle was recovered, along with the stolen property.

Dawson told Eyewitness News 4 on Sunday, "So they've actually got him locked up right now for trying to defend himself from people bashing in his car to try and get at him."

Deputies say investigators had enough evidence to determine it was not self-defense, but murder.

Valencia County Sheriff's Deputy Chris Trujillo said, "We rely heavily upon our citizens, our residents of the county to report crimes to us. We never want them to approach these individuals, or get within close contact where something like this could occur."

Gabaldon says his brother and Sanchez, at one time, were family.

"Well I know that Luke Sanchez was the cousin of the father of my brother's ex-girlfriend, and there's more to it of this story than what's being said, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it," he said.

Friends of Sanchez say he is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday. They hope the judge will drop the murder charge. Gabaldon's family hopes that charge remains.

[mad_as_he$$]

Oh and poorly written article.

[Condor51]

"Well I know that Luke Sanchez was the cousin of the father of my brother's ex-girlfriend, and there's more to it of this story than what's being said, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it," he said.

Whoa! I think I just had a Flashback!

"Bueller?.. Bueller? ...Bueller?"

"Um, he's sick."
"My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious."

"Thank you Simone."

"No problem whatsoever."

[Chode]

thank you... that was all i could think of when i read that.

[Condor51]

*** thank you... that was all i could think of when i read that. ***

"No problem whatsoever."

;-)

[Dead Corpse]

Gabaldon spotted him, ran over to his car and broke the driver's side window.

Signed his own death warrant right there...

[pallis]

Cops! They don’t want people solving the crime problem without them. We can’t have that.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Elton Richard.

[greyfoxx39]

Then he was bashing in the car windows of " the cousin of the father of my brother's ex-girlfriend.

Knowing that Belen is not a large city, I want to know how many of the Valencia county's sheriff deputies are "cousins" of the Gabaldons?

Lots of inter-relatedness goin' on around heah.

[Dead Corpse]

Be careful of appealing to "law". In MN, there is a duty to retreat that makes no sense whatsoever.

"Of liberty I would say that, in the whole plenitude of its extent, it is unobstructed action according to our will. But rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law,' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual." --Thomas Jefferson to Isaac H. Tiffany, 1819.

[Pistolshot]

Why not wait untill all the evidence is presented before you start bashing the cops?

We do not know the evidence involved. THAT will determine what happened and how, and who warrants arrest.

Most departments don't want civilians to get too involved in property crimes for a few reasons.

An officer arrving onto the scene has no idea who is fish or fowl, and the wrong one could get shot.

An officer arriving onto the scene could be in danger of being shot.

Now, if the evidence shows the assault on the Marine justified the shooting, it will come out that way. If there was evidence shows something else, then the Marine is in deep doo-doo, regardless of his service. And his friends statements about bashing in windows and only defending himself means absolutely zilch if he wasn't in the vehicle at the time.

Valencia County is not the largest in the state, but it has a lot of rural areas to patrol. That plus a holiday weekend limits deputy coverage.

[Andonius_99]

"My cousins fathers uncles girlfriends third cousin twice removed's roommate!"

What does that make us??!!

Absolutely nothinh!

[VicVega]

Now that would suck if it turns out the dead perp/victim is related to the guys who did the investigation.

[DesertDreamer]

Thanks.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Looks like this is going to be the topic at 9:00 on KOB with Pat Frisch stirring the pot.

[Pistolshot]

Bah....I am behind a strict firewall.

[PapaBear3625]

There may be facts that are not apparent from the article, but if someone is bashing the windows on my car trying to get to me, I would ordinarily thing that justified deadly force.

I think this is the crucial fact from the article: "Gabaldon says his brother was a former corrections officer".

If Gabaldon was some random drifter, I think it would have been far less likely that Sanchez would have had any trouble. Police forces get very irate when a LEO, even former LEO, gets shot. I would look to see if Gabaldon had any connections to any member of local law enforcement.

[Tijeras_Slim]

If anything noteworthy is said I’ll post it to you.

[TigersEye]

"You don't kill anybody, you just don't," Louie Gabaldon said Sunday.

Oh yes you do.

Valencia County Sheriff's Deputy Chris Trujillo said, "We rely heavily upon our citizens, our residents of the county to report crimes to us. We never want them to approach these individuals, or get within close contact where something like this could occur."

Moron. Citizens live in contact with the scum all the time.

[ctdonath2]

“Detached reflection cannot be demanded in the presence of an upraised knife.”
- Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes