Notorious teen killer back in jail on new charges
Mitchell Overhand is back in jail.
Thirty years ago, the then-16year-old was arrested and convicted for killing his parents and burying them in a shallow grave in the backyard of their Paradise Hills home. Last week, the Albuquerque police began looking for him again on kidnapping and aggravated battery charges in a new case. They arrested him Sunday. Overhand, now 45, is suspected of helping a group of people beat up a man accused of owing a $2,500 drug debt. According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, the group beat up Matthew Tressler and showed him a picture of his friend, John Soyka, dead and mutilated, in the back of a truck.
Then the group let Tressler go.
Police arrested one of the suspects, Chase Smotherman, 29, Thursday.
Detectives with the homicide unit and the missing person’s unit are investigating Soyka’s disappearance. Police have not publicly identified other suspects or said whether they found the 41-year-old or his body.
In a statement, Soyka’s family said they are grieving over the possibility that they’ve lost him.
“He is a beloved son, father, nephew, brother and friend. Since he began to talk, John had an uncanny, wry sense of humor. At age 5, he began studying classical violin, performing with public school orchestras and the Albuquerque Youth Symphony during his middle and high school years. He also is a talented urban artist, who created imaginative drawings and large, colorful murals, and presented his work in public venues,” the statement reads. “John’s passing would leave a giant hole in our family, among his many friends and in our community. He would be sorely missed.”