Jury finds man guilty in triple homicide
John Powell was accused of shooting two men and a woman near Dixon
TIERRA AMARILLA — A Rio Arriba County jury has found a man guilty of murder in a triple homicide case in northern New Mexico after less than three hours of deliberation.
John Powell, 36, was found guilty Wednesday.
Powell and his brother Roger Gage, 35, were accused of fatally shooting two men and a woman in 2018 in a small village home near Dixon, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
April Browne, 42, Abraham Martinez, 36, and Kierin Guillemin, 27, were killed in the shooting at Browne’s home in the village of Cañoncito.
Both men were charged with three counts of firstdegree murder, along with burglary, conspiracy and tampering with evidence, authorities said.
Trial dates for the case against Gage haven’t been set.
Powell and his girlfriend, Sonya Chavez, were former roommates of Browne’s who moved out shortly before the shootings after Browne accused Chavez of stealing drugs from her, according to trial testimony.
During the trial, jurors saw surveillance footage of the shooting. Powell said in court that he shot Browne twice and Guillemin once.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Anastasia Martin said Powell planned the murders with his brother to steal heroin, methamphetamine and money from Browne, a drug addict and dealer.
Martin pointed to the fact that Powell parked at the bottom of the hill, entered through an unlocked back door, arrived with loaded weapons and shot the victims before stealing a safe.
Powell’s defense attorney Sydney West argued visitors to the house regularly parked at the bottom of the hill and the men were known to be armed at all times.
West further asked jurors to find Powell not guilty on all charges except those related to Browne’s death, arguing that even though Powell admitted shooting Guillemin, Gage had fired the first bullet that killed him.
Rio Arriba County sheriff’s deputies took Powell into custody after the verdict.
A sentencing hearing is expected in about 30 days.