APD cop's wife facing gun, meth charges

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The strange case of Chris Blattner keeps getting stranger.

The convicted meth dealer was indicted for the 2007 murder of another drug dealer late last month. On the same day, Blattner, 32, barricaded himself inside his northeast Albuquerque home and caused a nine-hour standoff with the Albuquerque Police Department SWAT team.

Investigators say that during that standoff Blattner shot at police before he and his wife Brittany were arrested. But where did the convicted felon get the gun?

According to the Albuquerque Journal, APD detectives and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives traced several of Blattner's weapons to Elizabeth Taylor, the wife of an APD officer.

Three days later, Taylor was arrested at her home in northwest Albuquerque. She's now charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, meth possession and conspiracy.

A booking sheet for Taylor obtained by KRQE News 13 lists Brittany Blattner as a "co-defendant."

News 13 asked APD Deputy Chief Paul Feist if the report that Blattner bought guns from Taylor is true, but he says details are being kept secret.

"We believe that by releasing information from that case or any other case could jeopardize an ongoing investigation," Feist said.

The case against Taylor was sealed by a Metropolitan Court judge at the request of APD detectives.

Feist would confirm Taylor's husband, an eight-year APD veteran, was questioned in his wife's case. He was on paid leave but is now on desk duty.

"There's nothing right now that leads me to believe that that officer is involved in any criminal activity," Feist said.

The deputy chief also denied that the case against Taylor was sealed because of who she's married to.

"It's not uncommon for cases with sensitive information to be sealed," Feist said.

Blattner is currently serving time in a state prison. He's been questioned by APD in the disappearance of Kathy Paquin, 62, who has been missing for more than three weeks.

Blattner was never supposed to be out of prison in the first place. He was mistakenly released in February because of missing paperwork from a 2009 case. Blattner should have served three more years on his sentence.