Ex-defendant: Self-defense my right

LOS LUNAS, N.M. (KRQE) - Luke Sanchez emerged from a Valencia County courthouse Wednesday as a free man saying he never should have been charged with murder for killing a burglary suspect.

Minutes before a judge had ruled there was not enough evidence to take the case to trial. From the beginning Sanchez contended he acted in self-defense when he shot Gary Gabaldón on the evening of July 4.

“I lost my freedom,” Sanchez said. “I lost my constitutional right to freedom for charges that never should have been brought.

“I defended my life, and that's my constitutional right and my God-given right."

Sanchez then headed to his farm near Belen.

Prosecutors claimed that Sanchez was a vigilante and wanted him tried for murder or manslaughter. But after a preliminary hearing lasting a day and a half Magistrate Judge Danny Hawkes rule prosecutors didn't have enough evidence to back either charge.

Sanchez had gone out to buy fireworks when he spotted two men burglarizing a propane business near his home. He followed the men's van while calling 911.

But the suspects pulled over before officers arrived. Sanchez told investigators Gabaldón got out, smashed a window on Sanchez's truck and started attacking him.

The former Marine said he shot Gabaldón because he feared for his own life. Gabaldón's nephew, believed to be the other man present, later surrendered to deputies and was charged in connection with the burglary.

Friends of Sanchez took Hawke's ruling as backing the self-defense claim.

“Let the true heroes go, and criminals beware," Brett Henderson, a Sanchez neighbor, said.

“I know there are some upset people, but I really think things went the right way,” added another family friend.

“Justice was served,” Jose Sanchez said while adding that his son continues to feel unsafe.

“My son has been threatened by the Gabaldón family,” he continued. “And they have said 'Luke's a dead man.'”

Similar statements were heard outside court after the ruling including one from a man who yelled, "Dead man walking."

That man, who would not give his name, was wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Gabaldón on the back.

Other Gabaldón supporters said the ruling sent the wrong message.

“If I see someone breaking the law, does that mean I can shoot this character?” a family friend who would only identify himself as Richard said.

Valencia County sheriff's Deputy Chris Trujillo said officers aware of the Sanchez family's concerns about retaliation from associates of Gabaldón.

Trujillo said his office is waiting for Sanchez to file a report. If he does, they'll consider harassment charges against anyone making threats, the deputy said.

District Attorney Lemuel Martinez said that despite the judge's ruling his office did the right thing by trying to bring murder or manslaughter charges against Sanchez.