Griego says he 'lost his sense of conscience' during killings

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Nehemiah Griego, 15, is in jail, charged with five counts of murder and three counts of child abuse. 

It is now known what he told investigators , but what isn't known is what caused him to snap and murder his own family.

It is a disturbing story that does not make sense to those who knew the Griego family.

“You wouldn't notice anything was wrong; they were very giving people, very loving people,” said neighbor Joe Frank.

Those who knew the father, Greg Griego, a beloved pastor and volunteer in the community, are also in shock.

“Our hearts truly are broken,” said Brian Nixon, executive director for Calvary of Albuquerque, where Greg Griego was once on staff. “We've shed quite a few tears.”

The five murders happened Friday night and in the early hours of Saturday morning, when Griego shot and killed his mother, father and three young siblings.

“I've been to homicide scenes, I've never seen a scene quite like this,” said Dep. Aaron Williamson, spokesperson for the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department.

At some point, he told deputies he texted a picture of his dead mother to his girlfriend.

The next hours could have become even more tragic.  

Sources tell KRQE News 13 that Griego then loaded weapons in his family’s car and drove to a nearby Walmart with intentions of shooting people at random and being shot in a shootout with police.

But something redirected him.

Instead, he drove to Calvary Chapel on Osuna. That’s when he told a pastor his family died in a car accident.

At some point, his lie unraveled and someone at the church called 911.  

“There's no other way to say it except that we have a horrific crime scene down there that we're working on it,” said Sheriff Dan Houston of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department.

District Attorney Kari Brandenburg says Griego will be charged as an adult.

If convicted, a judge will decide if he should be sentenced as an adult.