BCSO arrests two in case of burning body
Terry Williams, 56, was found dead in the East Mountains
Nearly two months after a man’s body was found still smoldering in the East Mountains, detectives with the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office arrested an Albuquerque couple they say are connected to his death.
Craig Smith, 54, is charged with murder, conspiracy, kidnapping and other crimes and his girlfriend, Evonne Jaramillo, 39, is charged with unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and tampering with evidence.
A BCSO spokeswoman said detectives are still looking for other suspects in the case.
“At this time no other suspects have been identified and the investigation is ongoing,” said deputy Felicia Romero.
Terry Williams, 56, was reported missing on April 26 after his girlfriend said he and his truck
were gone and surveillance video showed two people going into his house several hours earlier, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.
Cellphone records led detectives to Smith and Jaramillo.
Detectives, who went to find Smith at his job at the Albuquerque Housing Authority on Thursday, were told by his supervisor that he had been showing up late and calling in sick recently, and he had called in sick on the days surrounding Williams’ death. When Smith returned from his lunch break, the detectives arrested him.
Smith told detectives he and several acquaintances had been hanging out at a trailer park near the Big I when they hatched a plan to lure Williams to the area and rob him because they knew he sold “large amounts of cocaine,” according to the complaint. He said his truck was used to take Williams’ body, wrapped in plastic, to the East Mountains.
Smith also said he and a friend broke into Williams’ house and rifled through it, looking for drugs or money, but they couldn’t find any so they took Williams’ car.
Detectives are still investigating whether Jaramillo helped Smith burglarize the house, but they say she helped him steal Williams’ car and leave it in Rio Rancho.
They believe Smith was the one who shot Williams because the bullets in his body matched bullets and guns they found in his trailer and in his truck, according to the complaint.