Billboards an effort to solve cold cases

Sheriff seeks help in killings from 1999

Seventeen years ago, Lisa and Eddie Guerrero were sitting in their father’s truck in the far South Valley when they were killed in a volley of bullets.

In the years following, the case went cold. Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office detectives have never found the siblings’ killer, and the case faded from public view.

But on Monday morning, commuters driving southbound on Coors from Interstate 40 could see a billboard with big pictures of Lisa and Eddie Guerrero. “You know who killed us!” reads the sign.

The billboard is just one of 20 that BCSO recently put up across Albuquerque, thanks to Lamar Advertising, which donated the billboard space to BCSO. The boards feature the Guerrero case, along with another unsolved case from the South

Valley that detectives are hoping to solve. Deputies want to encourage people to call in with tips and help revive the investigations.

“We do need a lot of the public’s help,” said BCSO Sgt. John Allen at a Monday morning news conference. “No lead is insignificant.”

Aside from the Guerrero case, the other case the sheriff’s office is highlighting is a shooting at a South Valley smoke shop in 2009.

Alicia Acosta, 46, was working at her shop on Isleta SW between Arenal and Blake, only a few buildings away from a sheriff’s office substation, on Jan. 19, 2009, when two young men walked in. One of them shot her in the chest. She called 911 for help but died at the hospital.

Cold case investigator Kathleen Esparsen wouldn’t say what investigators believe the motive was behind her slaying. But both she and Allen said it was not a robbery.

They also wouldn’t say what the motive was behind the shootings of Lisa Guerrero, 30, and Eddie Guerrero, 20. Allen said investigators are pursuing new forensic evidence in the case.

Sheriff Manuel Gonzales said these two cold cases were chosen out of 70 the department is investigating because detectives have dug up some new leads on them. They are looking for more tips to substantiate those leads.

Authorities asked anyone with information about the cases to call Crime Stoppers at 843-STOP.

Esparsen said the family members of the victims were grateful that BCSO is highlighting the cases but also said it’s been difficult for them.

“This isn’t a cold case for them. They live it every day,” she said. “It opens wounds, but they’re willing to do whatever it takes to get closure and justice for the victims.”