Woman arrested in suspected fatal stabbing of father-in-law
A Las Vegas woman has been arrested and accused of killing her elderly father-in-law, who suffered multiple stab wounds, according to State Police.
Ruth Rivera, 52, was taken into custody Friday on charges of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence, State Police spokeswoman Sgt. Elizabeth Armijo said in a news release issued on Saturday.
Armijo said on Wednesday State Police began investigating the suspicious death that happened at a home on N.M. 3 in Ribera, in San Miguel County. Officers had been dispatched around 12:30 p.m. to the home after receiving a medical call about an elderly man who had fallen.
Arriving emergency medical service personnel found the home full of smoke from a fire that started and spread from a kitchen stove, then officers found the body of 81-year-old Arthur Rivera in a bedroom, Armijo said.
“The body appeared to have sustained multiple wounds consistent with those made by a sharp object and around the body was a large amount of blood,” Armijo said in the news release.
State Police agents interviewed Ruth Rivera, who was at the scene and told agents she was the daughter-in-law and caretaker of Arthur Rivera.
Armijo said Ruth Rivera gave inconsistent statements to agents and told them Arthur Rivera and had fallen and injured himself. She said she was trying to help him when the house caught fire from the stove, so she called 911. She said the only occupants of the home, at the time, were herself and Arthur Rivera.
State Police agents, who secured search warrants, collected the clothing that Ruth Rivera was wearing at the scene, Armijo said. The clothing “was wet and appeared to have been recently cleansed in attempt to hide evidence.” Agents also collected a knife blade that had been placed on the burnt stove.
The state Office of the Medical Investigator conducted an autopsy on Arthur Rivera on Friday morning and ruled his death a homicide, noting “multiple stab wounds to Mr. Rivera’s torso and face,” according to Armijo.
State Police on Friday evening arrested Ruth Rivera.