Chief deputy to DA Torrez dies aged 68
Charles ‘Chuck’ Barth also served in the Secret Service
The highest ranking prosecutor under the 2nd Judicial District Attorney died last week at the age of 68.
Chief Deputy Charles “Chuck” Barth had been with District Attorney Raúl Torrez since the beginning of his first term in January 2017, said Brandale Mills Cox, the DA’s Office spokeswoman.
A brief obituary published online said he died Jan. 6 surrounded by his family, which did not respond to requests to speak to the Journal on Tuesday.
“Chuck was a dedicated public servant who spent a lifetime making his country and his community a better place,” Torrez wrote in a statement on Twitter. “After serving as an agent in the United States Secret Service, he went on to a distinguished, 30-year career as both a state and federal prosecutor. He was humble, generous and kind, and was someone who perfected the art of doing serious work without taking himself too seriously. He will be dearly missed by all who were privileged to know him.”
Mills Cox said Barth was involved in all of the highest-level cases at the
DA’s Office.
“He was especially instrumental in identifying the need for our Crime Strategies Unit, which has been pivotal in investigating cases using cutting-edge technology and techniques,” she said.
Barth was an assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico from 1989 to 2014 and before that served stints at the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office and the Secret Service, Mills Cox said.
“Chuck was in the United States Secret Service, where he provided executive protective service at the White House, responsible for protection of President Ford and First Family, and President Jimmy Carter and First Family, and President Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon,” she said. “He also did advance work and physical protection for more than 100 foreign dignitaries visiting the U.S., including Pope John Paul II, Fidel Castro and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.”
A celebration of his life will be held after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, the obituary states.