Police ID man seen with homicide victim
Reward offered for info on Michael Pope
Police are inching closer to figuring out what happened to 27-year-old Jonathon Saiz before he was found stabbed to death in his car in Southeast Albuquerque last May.
Detectives have identified one of the men seen leaving the Downs Racetrack and Casino with Saiz in his Nissan Infiniti the night before he was found dead as Michael Pope, 30, according to a news release from Crime Stoppers. They are still trying to identify a second man seen leaving with him.
“Investigators are asking anyone with information regarding the homicide of Jonathon Saiz or the identity of the individual wearing a black hat and gray shirt to contact Crime Stoppers,” the news release reads.
Crime Stoppers, with help from the community, is offering a $2,600 reward.
Saiz was found dead in his car in the 300 block of Charleston SE on May 7. No one has been arrested in the case.
Shortly after he was found, police announced they were looking for a woman who was the last person to be seen with him alive. Later, police said they were also looking for the two men seen leaving the casino with him in his car.
One of those men, later identified as Pope, was arrested at Isleta Resort & Casino in late July on drug charges. The criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court says he “may possibly be a wanted murder suspect from the Downs Casino in Albuquerque.”
According to the complaint, security at the Isleta Casino had him under constant surveillance and called police about him. When officers patted Pope down, they say they found he had heroin and paraphernalia in his pocket.
Those charges were later dismissed because the officer had not signed the criminal complaint.