Man arrested on suspicion of murder at hotel on Cerrillos Road

Suspect charged with murder, evidence tampering

Santa Fe police arrested a man late Monday night on suspicion of murder after discovering a body that may have been decomposing in a Cerrillos Road hotel bathtub for four days, according to a criminal complaint.

Alvin Crespin, 45, was arrested

Tuesday and charged with murder and three counts of tampering with evidence, according to a news release.

According to a criminal complaint, a man who was transported to a local hospital Monday night told an emergency room technician that a body was located in Room 237 at the GreenTree Inn.

The technician notified police, who arrived at the hotel room for a welfare check around 9:45 p.m., according to the complaint. Crespin, who police said may be a transient, met the officers at the door and agreed to allow them to complete their welfare check, according to the complaint.

Officers found a body covered in sheets in the bathroom with what Santa Fe Police Department Capt. Anthony Tapia described as “puncture wounds.”

Tapia said police were in the process of identifying the victim and were investigating. According to the criminal complaint, the victim had strangulation wounds around his neck, as well as stab wounds to his neck, hip, abdomen and chest.

Crespin and another man who was laying on the hotel room bed were read their Miranda rights and detained, police said.

Tapia said the room was rented to Crespin through the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness. According to police, the room was rented Dec. 30 and the checkout date was Tuesday.

The man who was transported to the

hospital told police he arrived at the hotel room earlier Monday and smelled something “that smelled like death.” The man told police that Crespin said the victim had been dead for four days.

The man left and walked to a nearby apartment building and asked someone to call an ambulance after complaining of chest pains he believed were the result of an anxiety attack, police said.

The second man who was detained by police told them he had been staying in the GreenTree Inn room since Friday. He said Crespin refused to allow him to go into the bathroom. He told police he noticed a smell, but thought that it was kitty litter.

A woman staying in a nearby hotel room told police that she remembered hearing “rumbling” around midnight to 3 a.m. on Friday but believed it to just be a loud New Year’s party. She told police that she remembered seeing two men and a female enter the room Thursday.

A search warrant was issued, and police found multiple blood stains on one of the hotel room beds, drug paraphernalia and a swirl mark that police said in the criminal complaint indicated an attempt to clean something off the floor. Police also found multiple tree-shaped air fresheners on the floor of the hotel room and the bathroom.

Police attempted to interview Crespin, but according to the complaint, he refused to speak to officers unless they helped him “find his girlfriend.” Crespin later told police someone had tried to “force” their way into the hotel room, but later refused to speak any further because he was “scared for his safety.”

During a subsequent interview, he gave a name of who he believed the victim was and where he was from.

Crespin was arrested and booked in Santa Fe County Jail on Tuesday.