Chavez pleads no contest to murder charge
Tammie Cessna’s body found in van at motel
As jury selection for the Mark A. Chavez murder trial was taking place this week in Torrance County Courtroom 1, a plea deal was being worked out in Courtroom 2.
Chavez pleaded no contest in the second-degree murder case of Tammie Cessna in January 2014 and is facing 12 years incarceration, three years supervised probation and two years of parole. The sentence also carries a $12,500 fine.
The other charge in this case of tampering with evidence was dismissed as part of the plea deal.
“I think this is a fair agreement for both sides,” 7th Judicial District Judge Kevin Sweazea said.
Cessna was reported missing after failing to show up for work Jan. 14, 2014. Although the Moriarty Police Department found her van that same day — parked in front of the Super 8 Motel where her boyfriend, Chavez, worked and lived — officers did not search the vehicle until four days later, when New Mexico State Police obtained a warrant.
In the days following Cessna’s disappearance, the case was treated as a missing person case rather than a homicide, leading former Deputy District Attorney Tim Cornish to recommend towing and sealing her van as evidence.
That delayed the discovery of the body and struck a couple of the State Police officers as odd, according to court records.
Four days after her sister reported her missing, Moriarty police found Cessna’s body in her van, previously parked in front of the motel where she lived with Chavez. Although the autopsy report, delivered in May 2014, found Cessna died of “homicidal violence including blunt injuries and probable strangulation,” former Deputy District Attorney Robert Cates said at the time more tests were required before they could file charges.