Couple facing charges in woman’s death
Rancher found victim’s body near Madrid in 2020
An Albuquerque couple is accused of beating their roommate to death with a golf club, dumping her body near the village of Madrid, and collecting her Social Security checks for close to a year.
James Bradley, 55, is charged with an open count of murder, tampering with evidence and conspiracy in the 2020 death of 64-year-old Peggy Meyer.
Bradley’s wife, 48-year-old Beverly Robinson, is charged with tampering with evidence and conspiracy in the case.
Both were arrested Thursday and booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center. It is unclear if either suspect has an attorney.
The homicide case is another solved recently that appeared to lay dormant before being reassigned in December, according to court records.
More than a year earlier, according to police, Robinson had told an IRS investigator that her husband killed Meyer and the couple dumped the body southwest of Madrid.
On March 23, 2020, a ranch worker found her body.
Santa Fe County deputies responded and found a woman’s body dumped by a tree along N.M. 301, near N.M. 14, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. The body was identified as Meyer several months later and an autopsy found she was beaten to death.
Meyer had several crescent-shaped injuries that could be “consistent with a golf club,” according to the autopsy report.
Police said deputies discovered Bradley shared a bank account with Meyer — where her Social Security benefits continued to go until February 2021. The IRS opened an investigation into the possible fraud as detectives looked into Meyer’s death.
Months after the body was found, Bradley asked the bank why Meyer’s check wasn’t deposited and told an employee Meyer was “out of the country,” according to the complaint. An IRS investigator interviewed Robinson in April 2021 and she said Bradley “bullied” her and Meyer for their money.
Police said Robinson told the IRS Meyer lied to Bradley in March 2020 and he beat her with a golf club in the Albuquerque home the three shared. Robinson told the IRS she cleaned the blood and the couple dumped Meyer’s body past the East Mountains.
The case was transferred to the Albuquerque Police Department and a detective met with Bradley who said he didn’t hurt Meyer and didn’t intend to take her money, according to the complaint. Bradley also gave “conflicting statements” and told police he saw Meyer after the date her body was found.
Police said they searched the home where the three lived, near Comanche and San Mateo NE, and found blood in the hallway. Bradley was also matched to DNA found under Meyer’s fingernails and on her body.
Further investigation revealed that Robinson had Meyer’s vehicle transferred into her name months after she was killed, according to the complaint. Police matched the car’s tires to tracks found near Meyer’s body and a search of Bradley’s phone found messages referencing the homicide.
Police said they also located an October 2019 report where Meyer reported that Bradley and Robinson had attacked her. Meyer was treated for “significant bruising” but Bradley told police she “came home with those injuries.”
“The conditions in which (Meyer) sustained the injuries was undetermined and no one was listed as a suspect in the police incident report,” according to the complaint.