Editor’s Note: Previously, the shooting was reported in this article as taking place at 6:30 a.m. However, the shooting took place in the evening, according to criminal complaint documents. The following article has been updated to reflect those documents.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – More than a year and a half after a man was murdered over his Toyota Prius in a carjacking in the University of New Mexico area. Police have finally charged a suspect. Karl Jurisson, 64, was shot to death outside near Garfield and Girard at 6:30 p.m. in June of 2021.
In a criminal complaint, the Albuquerque Police Department says 20-year-old Felix Vigil and his friend John Kasi were in a borrowed car cruising the area when they stopped. Vigil who was 18 years old at the time, got out because he wanted to take Jurrisson’s Prius from him, then shot him during a struggle over the car.
Story continues below:
- Albuquerque: Albuquerque neighbors fed up with drivers crashing into wall repeatedly
- New Mexico: Taos family frustrated with lack of progress on safety measures on Taos Gorge Bridge
- Environment: Will New Mexico see a ‘sizzling’ spring and summer?
- Crime: Warrant out for woman accused of damaging 40 vehicles in downtown Albuquerque
Some of the crime was captured on security video. Police used surveillance video from the area to get the license plate and track down the Hyundai Elantra’s owner who told them who had borrowed the car.
Kasi pinned it on Vigil, while the 5-foot-9 Vigil tried to pin it on the Hyundai owner who happens to be 6-foot-4. Last April, police reconstructed the crime scene using the security video and stand-ins to show the killer was more in the 5-foot-9 range. KRQE News 13 tried asking APD why Vigil wasn’t charged until now but did not hear back.
Since the murder, Vigil has been arrested for car theft and robbing a pair of fast-food restaurants. He was already behind bars when he was charged with the murder.
