Governor: Murder statutes too lenient

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Gov. Susana Martinez, lawmakers and crime victims think criminals are getting away with murder, and they want it stop.

“Homicide is the most heinous of crimes and should not have a statute of limitations just because you got away with it,” Martinez told News 13. “I am proposing that there be no statute of limitations on any homicide case – vehicular homicide, involuntary manslaughter, voluntary manslaughter, second-degree murder.”

The family of Michael Snyder wants the same thing and recently met with Martinez to try and get the law changed.

“We just hope we can change things for other families who, heaven forbid, might ever have to go through this,” said Teri Johnson, Snyder’s brother.

Snyder was missing for eight years. His remains were found in early 2010 buried next to the Albuquerque house he built for his family.

His wife, Ellen Snyder, was accused of killing him, burying the body and making up a story about how he left his family after the two got into a fight.

The charges against her looked clear-cut, but as the case moved forward Michaels’ family received a hard lesson in how the law works.

“We were incredibly naive to the whole process,” Johnson said.

While there is no statute of limitations for first-degree murder, prosecutors with the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s office feared they couldn’t get a conviction on that charge allowing Snyder to get off.

But the statute of limitations for second-degree murder is just six years, meaning prosecutors’ hands were tied.

In exchange for assurances that prosecutors wouldn’t pursue the first-degree murder charge, Snyder’s defense agreed to waive the statute of limitations for manslaughter. Snyder took the deal last May, in exchange for an 11-year prison sentence that left Michael’s family angry at the system.

“We want things to change,” Johnson said. “And we think that all New Mexicans deserve that.”

The family is going all the way to the top to do it. News 13 was there as the family met with Martinez at their Albuquerque home recently.

Martinez promised to push for a bill to eliminate the statute of limitations for all types of killings in the legislative session that begins on Jan. 17. Three lawmakers are promising to sponsor legislation that would do just that.

The governor, a former district attorney, said that what happened in the Ellen Snyder case is proof the state’s criminal justice system has serious weaknesses.

According to Michael Snyder’s family, if his wife had been tried and convicted of all her alleged crimes, she could have been sentenced to more than 300 years. With good time, and credit for time served, she could spend as little as eight years in state prison.

“Nothing will ever bring Mike back, and no amount of time would ever be long enough for us for this person,” Johnson said. “But if we could save some other family the heartache of feeling victimized again, (that) is really now our goal.”