VICTIM DIES; CHARGES DROPPED
Case is 31st in rape kit backlog in which victim died before prosecution of suspect could begin.
Prosecutors say the woman was excited to see justice in her 10-yearold rape case.
But that day wouldn’t come. Instead, she became the 31st victim in a rape kit backlog case to die before prosecution.
Her body was dropped off at the hospital earlier this month and she was declared dead a week before prosecutors filed charges — not knowing the woman had already died.
Now, those charges against 45-yearold Celso Montaño have been dropped.
Montaño was charged Oct. 22 with kidnapping and criminal sexual penetration in connection with the alleged 2009 rape.
Michael Patrick, a 2nd Judicial District Attorney spokesman, said Montaño’s accuser died at University of New Mexico Hospital on Oct. 18. Montaño has since been released.
“We spoke to the family and are evaluating the evidence to determine if we can proceed without her testimony,” he said. “In the meantime (the Office of the Medical Investigator) is investigating the cause of death to determine if there was foul play.”
Patrick said prosecutors had spoken with the woman Oct. 3. and “she was excited to assist in the prosecution.”
He said the woman was found Oct. 16 in an Albuquerque apartment and dropped off at the hospital as a Jane Doe. Patrick did not know if the woman was alive when she was hospitalized, but he did say she was identified by fingerprints and declared dead within two days.
It is unclear if the Albuquerque Police Department is investigating the woman’s death, and a department spokesman did not respond to
messages seeking comment.
“Our hope is to relaunch the case once the investigation is complete,” Patrick said.
The case stemmed from a May 23, 2009, incident when the woman was walking home on Isleta SW, near Rio Bravo, in the South Valley.
The woman told deputies Montaño offered her a ride before he choked and raped her. Deputies say Montaño threw the woman onto the ditch bank and drove off.
At the time, a rape kit — evidence collection — was done on the woman, but deputies could not reach her for a follow-up and “the case was closed pending further contact.”
Deputies were able to find the woman again after her rape kit — part of the backlog of untested rape kits — came back as a match for Montaño in March 2018.
This isn’t the first time Montaño has faced such accusations.
In 2009, Montaño was charged with kidnapping and aggravated battery in connection with the rape of a woman. Prosecutors dropped rape charges because, according to a DA spokeswoman, there were concerns about witness credibility.
Then, in 2012, he was charged with multiple counts of kidnapping, rape and assault in separate attacks on four women. Montaño pleaded no contest in 2014 to misdemeanor charges and was sentenced to three years of jail time and probation.