Man accused of murder, in tossing victim into river

New Mexico State Police have arrested a Villanueva man on suspicion of killing another man and throwing him into the Pecos River.

A police affidavit for an arrest warrant charges 30-year-old Richard Joseph Griego with murder and tampering with evidence. A state police officer filed the affidavit Thursday in San Miguel County Magistrate Court.

According to the complaint, a woman identified as Beverly Quintana told police that on Tuesday afternoon she saw a man throw her cousin, Jimmy Griego, 37, off a Pecos River bridge on N.M. 3, about 35 miles southeast of Santa Fe.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Clayton said it wasn’t immediately known if the victim was related to the suspect. Clayton also said investigators had not determined a motive.

The affidavit says Quintana was driving southbound when she saw her “terrified” cousin on his knees in the bed of a white Ford pickup traveling north.

Quintana said she saw in her rearview mirror the truck stop at the bridge, according to the affidavit. She said the driver got out of the truck holding an unknown object in his right hand. Quintana said she feared for her cousin’s safety so she doubled back, the affidavit says.

As she drove toward the pickup, Quintana told police she saw the driver lift her cousin over his shoulder and throw him into the river, the affidavit says.

When she got to the bridge, Quintana said, the attacker drove away in the truck, which she said belongs to the suspect’s father,

the affidavit says. She told police she saw her cousin’s body floating face down in the river with blood on the back of his shirt, the court document says.

A field examiner for the state Office of Medical Investigator told police the victim had blunt force trauma and two cuts on his head, the affidavit says. The document also says that he had an indentation to the left side of his head.

Police later determined that Richard Griego was on probation and was wearing a GPS monitoring device on his ankle, the affidavit says. Details on his probation weren’t immediately available.

Police say the device shows that Richard Griego had been at the bridge about 4:18 p.m., two minutes before Quintana called the police, the affidavit says. Police also found that after leaving the bridge, he went back to his house in Villanueva, the document says.

The Las Vegas Optic reported Thursday that Richard Griego was being held in jail in lieu of a $500,000 cashonly bond.

His next court hearing is scheduling for 9 a.m. April 10 before San Miguel County Magistrate Judge Christian Montaño.