Suspect faces murder count in Ruidoso Downs ax slaying

Man also accused of wounding deputy

A man accused of shooting and wounding a southern Lincoln County sheriff’s deputy during a struggle at a hospital was charged Monday in the ax killing of a woman whose head was nearly severed.

An arrest warrant and criminal complaint filed in Lincoln County Magistrate Court charged Andrew Poteet Magill, 25, with murder in the killing late Saturday of Mary Ann Moorhouse at a ranch about 10 miles east of Ruidoso Downs.

An affidavit accompanying the warrant and complaint said Magill shot a Lincoln County sheriff’s deputy in the shoulder after Magill picked up the deputy’s gun when it fell to the floor during a struggle at a

hospital in Ruidoso.

The deputy was hospitalized in good condition, Sheriff Robert Shepperd said. The deputy’s identity was not released.

Shepperd declined to discuss the homicide or the shooting of the deputy when reached by The Associated Press. But the affidavit filed by his office said deputies discovered Moorhouse’s body and a bloodcovered ax on the ground outside a ranch residence after going to check on her welfare in response to a concerned co-worker’s call.

“The female had no signs of life, and her head had been almost completely severed,” the affidavit said.

According to the affidavit, Moorhouse had spoken with the co-worker by phone and told the co-worker that someone was on the property and she was going to investigate.

A motorist who picked up Magill on a highway near the ranch found him “very agitated,” with dried blood on his hands and a cut on his forehead, the affidavit said.

The motorist dropped Magill at the Ruidoso Downs police station, where he ranted about being Jesus and fighting with Satan, and made statements about killing a man and chopping off a woman’s head with an ax, the affidavit said.

Police took Magill to the hospital, where sheriff’s deputies went after learning that a suspect was being treated, the affidavit said.

State Police were investigating the hospital shooting and said in a statement that Magill was from Roswell and would face charges, including attempted murder, in that incident.

A court official said Magill didn’t have an attorney who could comment on the allegations.