Ranchos de Taos woman found guilty in 2019 kidnapping, murder
A jury in Taos found Desiree Lensegrav guilty on five charges Friday (April 1) connected to the kidnapping and murder of Ranchos de Taos resident Joseph Morgas in 2019.
The trial came to a close Friday afternoon after three full days of witness testimony and examination. After an hour and a half of deliberations, the jury came back with its unanimous verdict.
Lensegrav, 32, was convicted of first-degree murder; kidnapping in the first degree; conspiracy to commit murder, a second-degree felony; and two tampering with evidence charges related to covering up Morgas’ body and throwing evidence into the Rio Grande, both third-degree felonies. Another count of tampering with evidence for hiding a rope allegedly used in the crime was dropped after Lensegrav’s attorney, Anna Aragon, made a motion for a directed verdict on all counts Thursday (March 31).
On Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, Lensegrav took the stand in her own defense, and was the only witness Aragon called during the trial. Lensegrav maintained her innocence in the case, saying that she had only wanted her husband, Aram Montoya, to beat up Morgas after she claimed Morgas had threatened to report her to child protective services for purchasing cocaine from a local drug dealer.
While Lensegrav claimed that Montoya was the key actor in Morgas’ killing, state prosecutors Cosme Ripol and Emily Dewhurst convinced the jury that she was still fully responsible for Morgas’ death, having acted in coordination to kill Morgas as retribution. The state relied on a witness to Morgas’ kidnapping as well as a recorded confession Montoya provided to law enforcement, among other pieces of evidence.
Montoya was also charged with first-degree murder in a separate case, and accepted a life sentence plus 22 years for his part in the crime last September.
In her testimony, Lensegrav said that after she purchased the drugs, she went to tell Montoya, and then the two left to go see Morgas.
Much of her defense surrounded the question of whether or not the couple had intended to kill Morgas when they went to the residence.
While Lensegrav admitted in a recording to New Mexico State Police she had wanted to “kick [Morgas’] ass,” she said she was unable to due to a hand injury. “I told [Aram Montoya] I wanted him to kick [Joseph Morgas’] ass,” she stated in the recording played in court. When asked by an officer if she had intended to kill Morgas, Lensegrav said, “I blocked that out completely,” she said. “[Aram Montoya] said he would take care of it.”
The officer pressed her again on the question, at which point Lensegrav admitted Montoya said he was going to “kill [Morgas]… He talked about killing people all the time, but I didn’t take that seriously. I tell him I’m gonna kill him for messing up the kitchen,” she said.
Lensegrav maintained that when they went to the house to beat up Morgas, she was not involved in the altercation, and that Montoya got Morgas in a headlock and choked him. Lensegrav testified that when Montoya arrived at their truck, Morgas was already limp.
She said the incident simply got out of hand. “It was an accident. I had told [New Mexico State Police officers] from the beginning that it was an accident,” she told Ripol in cross examination. “[Montoya and Morgas] were fighting, next thing I knew, Joseph [Morgas] was unconscious.”
Lensegrav admitted to driving the truck to a grave that Montoya had dug in advance. She also recounted how Montoya had put her in the grave as a threat, after suspecting her of cheating on him. Lensegrav admitted to handing Montoya the gasoline which was used to light Morgas’ body on fire, and the shovel that was used to remove identifiable parts of Morgas’ body. However, she denied having any part in the actual killing of Morgas.
In closing statements from the state, Ripol reminded the jury that Lensegrav was the one who initiated the entire incident, and that if it were not for her, Morgas would be alive today. “Do we know when Desiree Lensegrav and Aram Montoya murdered Joseph Morgas? No. Could it have been in the headlock? Could it have occurred during transport? When she handed Aram Montoya the gasoline? Could it have been the shovel?” he asked, pulling out the shovel and smacking it on the ground in a theatrical display that quieted the courtroom.
In closing statements from Aragon, she painted Lensegrav as a woman who had been through abuse (Lensegrav testified she was raped by Morgas’ cousin) and who was afraid that, were she not to go along with Montoya’s plan to bury Morgas, she would have likely ended up in the grave alongside him.
Ripol again reminded the jury that no matter how much sympathy they may have for Lensegrav, “neither sympathy nor prejudice should influence your decision.”
Sentencing for Lensegrav will be scheduled approximately three weeks from Friday (April 1).