2 suspects face charges in March slaying
Both men accused of shooting the victim on the West Side
One suspect has been indicted and detectives expect to charge another in the fatal shooting of a man whose body was found by the side of a road north of Interstate 40 last March.
Larry Phillips, 35, had been shot multiple times. Few details were released at the time of his death and the case had been sealed until last week.
Michael Patrick, a spokesman for the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, said prosecutors requested the documents be sealed because they contained “sensitive information that we felt would have compromised the investigation prior to indictment.”
On July 11, a grand jury indicted 38-yearold Stephen Paschall. He is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, tampering with evidence and bribery of a witness.
According to court documents, Paschall and his co-conspirator, Kevin Geier, killed Phillips on Lost Horizon drive, several miles west of Albuquerque. A work crew laying power lines found his body on March 6.
“Multiple witnesses indicate that the decedent was with Paschall and Geier just before his death,” according to a motion filed by the state. “Multiple witnesses also indicate that Paschall admitted that he and Geier drove the decedent to the west side of Albuquerque and killed the decedent.”
Geier was arrested in Arizona and is facing numerous charges there. Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office homicide Sgt. John Allen said he will be charged with murder and extradited to New Mexico.
Allen said detectives are still investigating why exactly Phillips was killed, but they believe drugs were involved.
“We’ve made arrests, but we’re still finding out a lot of other information,” Allen said. “I could say the motive is not completely clear, but we’re getting close to it.”
Phillips had previously been charged with tampering with evidence in connection with the fatal stabbing of a Four Hills man the day after Christmas in 2015. The case against him was dismissed.
Prior to a couple of months ago, Paschall had never been charged with a crime in New Mexico, according to online court
records. However, this year, he was charged in two separate shoplifting incidents.
According to criminal complaints filed in Metropolitan Court, Paschall and his girlfriend stole more than $800 worth of toys from Toys ‘R’ Us in December and two bottles of Hennessy cognac from Smith’s grocery store in January. In each case, employees reported Paschall had pointed a gun at them. Both cases are pending.
Prosecutors cited Paschall’s prior arrests in a motion they filed requesting that he be held in jail until his trial. The judge denied the state’s motion for pre-trial detention because prosecutors hadn’t turned over evidence to the defense, according to court documents.
The District Attorney’s Office has now filed a motion asking the judge to reconsider because they say they weren’t given enough notice about the hearing to meet the deadline.