Trial ordered in Mountainair deaths

MORIARTY, N.M. (KRQE) - There is sufficient evidence against the man charged with killing two Mountainair residents while fleeing for the case to go to trial, a judge ruled Wednesday.

The preliminary hearing for Paul Sanchez also shed more light on the events deadly events of April 8.

Sanchez, charged with two counts of vehicular homicide plus drug and other charges, said nothing as he arrived at Magistrate Court in Moriarty.

The dash camera in Mountainair police Chief Ed von Kutzleben's patrol car captured the incident that began when the chief pulled Sanchez over on a residential street a few blocks north of the business district.

After first seeming to comply with the chief's orders, the video showed Sanchez suddenly pulling away and spinning a quick U-turn as von Kutzleben fires two shot trying to flatten the rear tires of the pickup truck.

Sanchez went on to run a stop sign where he is accused of broadsiding a car driven by Flora Chavez killing her and her grandson. Von Kutzleben was still more than a block away, and the collision appears in his dashcam video only as a cloud of dust.

An accident-reconstruction expert with the New Mexico State Police said Sanchez was going 58 mph, double the speed limit in that area.

He also said there were no signs Sanchez tried to stop before hitting the Chavez car.

During the hearing von Kutzleben told the judge that he believed Sanchez was high at the time.

Another witness testified a doctor found a bag of methamphetamine in Sanchez's rectum while he was getting medical treatment after the crash.

After hearing the evidence the judge ruled there is enough probable cause for Sanchez to go to trial.

"I'm just, it was an accident," Sanchez said as officers led him from court.

Meanwhile the tragedy continues to divide the town of Moriarty.

"It's always hard dealing with any kind of crime where you have a child that's been killed," District Attorney Clint Wellborn said after the hearing. "Even with the grandmother it's difficult with those types of cases."

Some Mountainair residents are calling for the chief to step down arguing his attempt to shoot out Sanchez's tires before the pursuit actually led to the two deaths.

During the hearing the judge ejected one man from court for making comments while the chief was testifying.

Sanchez is expected to go to trial within the next six months.