Foul-up freed inmate before woman vanished

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - An accused killer suspected in the disappearance of an Albuquerque woman was only on the streets because sentencing paperwork never made it from District Court to the Department of Corrections, KRQE News 13 has learned.

Christopher Blattner, 32, should have been in prison until 2015 on a combination of sentences for drug crimes imposed in 2007 and 2009.

The problem arose with the 2009 case when the District Court judge sentenced Blattner to 12 years to be served at the same time as the earlier nine-year sentenced.

While Blattner was turned over to the Department of Corrections, the court sentencing documents on the second sentence never followed him. So with only the 2007 sentence on file, and with accumulated good time, the DOC cut Blattner loose three years early.

Blattner is no stranger to the criminal justice system with several felony convictions. His latest arrest, however, came after a nine-hour SWAT standoff when he was arrested on a probation violation.

He was then revealed to be a suspect not only in a 2007 murder but in the disappearance last month of Kathy Paquín, 62. She was last seen on Aug. 15, and neighbors told police Blattner had been seen around her home claiming to be her nephew.

Sources have told News 13 Blattner was living at the home.

For now Blattner is back in prison on the unfinished three years of his 2009 sentence.

There has been no sign of Paquín, and sources have told News 13 friends of Blattner say he bragged about killing her.