South Valley man charged in girlfriend’s death
Man told deputies he broke 6-year sobriety
Deputies arrested a man who they say killed his girlfriend during a night of drinking at his South Valley home Saturday.
Jarrett L. Attel, 43, is charged with an open count of murder in the death of 45-year-old Micaella Novick. He was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Maggie Shepard, a spokeswoman for the Law Offices of the Public Defender, said they are representing Attel and reviewing the case.
“It’s important to remember that police reports rarely contain the full story, and we have to let the court process work,” she said in a statement.
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office did not alert the public to the homicide until Tuesday afternoon. BCSO spokeswoman Jayme Fuller said that was because “releasing preliminary information wouldn’t be good for the case until we get some of our facts straight.”
Prosecutors have filed a motion to detain Attel until trial, writing that his actions “make it clear that human life holds no value to him.”
BCSO deputies were called around 9 a.m. Sunday to a house in the 1900 block of Coe SW in reference to an unresponsive woman, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Metropolitan Court.
Deputies said they found Novick on the floor, with injuries consistent with a skull fracture. She was pronounced dead at the scene and the Office of the Medical Investigator confirmed her injuries were consistent with blunt force trauma.
It appeared that a struggle had taken place in the living room — with broken glass on the floor and items apparently knocked over, according to the affidavit. Deputies also found a single spent bullet casing near Novick’s body.
Deputies said Attel had several injuries, including a scratch on his left eyebrow, a bruise near his left eye and bruises on both knuckles. Attel told deputies he had decided to break his six-year sobriety Saturday night and drank with Novick.
He told them he went to sleep in his bedroom and woke up several times in the night, seeing her in the same position on the couch, according to the affidavit. Attel said he called 911 at around 8:30 a.m. when he tried waking Novick up and noticed blood coming from her nose.
Deputies said Attel told them he had no injuries before he and Novick began drinking the night before. He told them he didn’t know how he got the injuries, stating that “he fell a lot.”
Detectives charged Attel based on the evidence that, according to the affidavit, his injuries were not consistent with a fall, there was an apparent struggle and Attel said there was nobody else in the apartment.