Unsolved_ Justice for Yvonne Martinez

On Saturday, October 11th, 2003, police were called to County Road 136B, 10 miles north of Espanola, following the discovery of a deceased female – 37-year-old Yvonne Martinez. Yvonne had been brutally murdered, and it was clear from the scene that a struggle had occurred. Despite the investigation identifying several suspects and many crucial pieces of evidence, the case has continued to remain unsolved for over 20 years.

If you have any information regarding this case, please contact the New Mexico State Police Cold Case Homicide Unit at [phone] or email: [e-mail]
Thanks for Fern Bushnall for writing and researching this case.
References:
NM State Police Case File
https://www.newspapers.com/article/rio-grande-sun/135217149/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/rio-grande-sun/135216685/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican/135216873/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican/135216765/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/albuquerque-journal/135217226/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/albuquerque-journal/135317907/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican/135216993/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican/135217329/
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/espa-ola-man-fatally-struck-by-truck-on-n-
m-14-south-of-santa-fe/article_a9c3b45f-ecc9-5141-8e26-8863c151cd3d.html
https://www.riograndesun.com/obituaries/gabriel-medardo-archuleta-iii/article_6f5cd87d-04f6-
512b-ace6-3ec1bbca1aaf.html
https://www.devargasfuneral.com/obituaries/gabriel-archuletaiii
https://www.newspapers.com/article/rio-grande-sun/135524803/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/rio-grande-sun/135524828/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/albuquerque-journal/135585797/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/rio-grande-sun/135585802/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican/135647532/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican/135647742/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-santa-fe-new-mexican/135647749/

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, True Advocates, It's meEric Carter Lundin and I'm so excited to
be back in front of my microphonetoday. I apologize for my extended absence.
Things have gotten quite a bit crazierfor me in my day job,
and I've gotten a little bit ofa break over the holidays, so I
was able to get some work doneand now I'm recording this episode. This

(00:21):
is actually the second time we're recordingit. This episode was supposed to come
out on Sunday, January seventh,but the episode got corrupted. I am
re recording it now. Stick aroundto the end of the episode. Have
got some important updates about True Consequencesand some things that are going to be
happening here in the near future.We are going to be going bi weekly

(00:42):
going forward, just to help makesure that I can stay on top of
things. But there's going to bea big, huge, giant announcement at
the end of this episode, sodon't forget to stick around to the end
so you don't miss it. AllRight, with that, let's get into
the episode. On Saturday day,October eleventh, two thousand and three,

(01:02):
police were called to County Road onethirty six B ten miles north of Espanola,
following the discovery of a deceased female, thirty seven year old Yvonne Martinez.
Yvonne had been brutally murdered, andit was clear from the scene that
a struggle had occurred. Despite theinvestigation identifying several suspects and many crucial pieces
of evidence, the case has continuedto remain unsolved for over twenty years.

(01:26):
Americ Cardalan den and this is trueConsequences. Yvonne Martinez was a much loved

(02:10):
and well known member of the Espanolacommunity. She was born Yvonne Archiletta to
her parents, Sippy and Mary,and she had two sisters, Pamela and
Beverly. Yvonne was described as atomboy who enjoyed fishing and spending time in
the mountains. She loved her familyand friends unconditionally, enjoyed good chats,
and is described as a very trustingperson who was not afraid of anything.

(02:34):
At nineteen, Yvonne gave birth toa son, Gabriel, who was raised
by Sippy and Mary. The reasonfor this is unknown, but Yvonne remained
within her son's life and continued tohave a strong relationship with both of her
parents. Through many reports, Yvonneis described as having a positive outlook on
life. However, she faced manylosses over a short period of time,

(02:55):
which began to take a toll onher mental health. The first family track
occurred in October of nineteen eighty nine. Yvonne's sister, twenty one year old
Beverly, had arrived home at aroundnine pm after spending time with her boyfriend.
Initial reports suggested that the young couplewere arguing, but her father,
Sippy, later disputed this fact.Sippy stated that after being dropped off at

(03:15):
home, Beverly realized she left herjacket and her boyfriend's truck and began chasing
after it. She grabbed the rearof the truck and lost her footing falling
onto the median of the highway.Her sister Pamela was present at the time
and attempted to pull Beverly off ofthe road, but she was too late.
Beverly was struck by a passing tractortrailer and killed instantly. Just four

(03:37):
years later, in nineteen ninety three, the father of Yvonne's son, Medardo
Chavis Junior, also passed away unexpectedly. By two thousand, and three,
Yvonne was struggling with depression and wasexperiencing an ongoing battle with alcohol addiction,
which had affected a lot of herclose family relationships. Her son was now
eighteen years old, and in Juneof two thousand and three, he was

(03:58):
charged with battery after getting into afight with Yvonne. After this, Gabriel
had returned to the home of hisgrandparents, and the relationship between the mother
and son was described as strained.Just a month later, in July,
Yvonne experienced another loss when her husbandof seven years, Johnny Martinez, was
killed during a physical altercation. Reportsstate that Johnny had traveled to Santa Cruz

(04:18):
Lake with a family friend named Donna. There, they met with Donna's cousin,
Leroy and his son Derek. Thegroup were talking and fishing for a
while before Donna and Leroy had attemptedto leave together. Derek then became extremely
angry, accusing them both of leavingto carry out drug related activity. During
the argument, Derek had pushed Donnato the ground and a physical fight quickly

(04:40):
broke out. Yvonne's husband, Johnny, pulled out a knife and stabbed Derek
in the hand and knee. Derekthen fought the knife from Johnny's hands and
admitted he had begun swinging wildly inhis direction. Johnny's wounds were too severe
to be treated, and he waspronounced dead later that day. By October
of two thousand and three, Yvonnewas living alone and had recently she lost
her job. She did not havea car, so she relied on others

(05:02):
for rides to the grocery store orto friends houses. Her sister Pamela says
people generally love to help, asYvonne would always repay people by cleaning their
homes or carrying out other household choresthat they did not want to do.
When she was unable to catch aride with her friends, Yvonne's fearless nature
meant that she would also ask strangersfor help getting home. On the Friday

(05:24):
evening of October tenth, two thousandand three, Yvonn dropped by her friend's
home to request a ride to theHotel Casino in ok Owinge. Gloria was
hosting a baby shower at the timeand was unable to leave her guests.
However, Gloria's sister Tina was aboutto leave, so she agreed to take
Yvonne with her. During the ride, Yvonne told Tina that she was meeting

(05:45):
with friends, but did not specifywho. As they arrived at the casino,
Yvonne asked Tina she would drop herby the rear of building, but
Tina decided to take her to thefront entrance as she believed that this would
be safer. Tina waited while Yvonneentered the casino before making her way home.
The following day, Eddie Bontonio Juniorwas out test, writing in ATV
that he and his father had spentthe afternoon working on He decided to take

(06:08):
it for a ride on County Roadone thirty six B and was just minutes
into his journey when he discovered Yvon'spartially clothed body lying at the side of
the road. Eddie Junior rushed hometo tell his father, and they traveled
back together to verify what he hadseen. Eddie Senior quickly returned home and
dialed nine one one. New MexicoState Police arrived on scene around five p

(06:28):
m. And began a homicide investigationimmediately. Yvonne was found lying on her
back with a visible gunshot wound toher cheek and a large laceration on her
shoulder. Impressions and drag marks inthe sand suggested that a struggle had occurred
and the suspect had attempted to hideYvonne's body in some nearby bushes. The
scene was cordoned off and police beganphotographing the area and gathering as much evidence

(06:51):
as possible as the evening progressed.Lights were used to illuminate the area and
officers took cast impressions of the shoeprints and tire tracks near Yvonne's body so
that they were not disturbed by thestrong winds that evening. After determining that
Eddie Junior and Eddie Senior had notapproached Yvonne, police were confident that the
ground impressions around her body were leftby the person or people responsible for her

(07:15):
death. As police continued to processthe crime scene, they received an alert
about an ongoing incident at a residencein Espanola which may have been connected to
Yvonne's death. Several officers were dispatchedand arrived at the scene, learning that
the occupant of the home, ChrisBranch, had attempted to take his own
life and had left a note forhis girlfriend claiming that he had quote done

(07:36):
something very wrong end quote. NewMexico State Police collected multiple pieces of evidence,
such as the note written by Chris, a watch soaked in blood,
and detailed the incident just in caseit would later become relevant in their investigation.
By now, police on scene hadidentified the female as Yvonne Martinez using
a driver's license found in the frontpocket of her blue jeans. An officer

(07:59):
was disp to her home in Washupungeat around ten thirty pm. When he
arrived at Ivan's trailer, he notedthat the front door was wide open and
loud music could be heard coming fromthe inside. Furniture was scattered in the
kitchen, and he believed that astruggle may have occurred. The officer secured
the home and made his way overto the neighboring trailer, where he interviewed
two brothers who had been living nextto Yvonne for a short while. One

(08:22):
brother said that he left the traileraround two hours earlier and saw a man
standing in the doorway of Yvonne's homewhile the music was blaring loud. He
had not looked for long enough toprovide a detailed description, but described him
as having long, dark hair anda dark T shirt. He couldn't recall
seeing the mail before, but bothbrothers described Yvon's trailer as a quote constant

(08:45):
party end quote, with lots ofdifferent people coming in and out regularly.
The brothers admitted that they had disagreementswith Yvonne due to the loud music,
but they kept their concerns to themselvesas they did not want police to get
involved. As the officer interviewed Yvonn'sneighbors, forensics continued at the crime scene.
Several hares and fiber samples were foundand collected from Yvonne's body, and

(09:07):
a discarded cigarette was located nearby.Police also swapped bloodstains and an unknown substance
found on Yvonne's clothing before placing everythinginto evidence. Police eventually left at four
thirty eight and the scene was guardedby a uniform police officer until the next
morning, when forensics could resume.At five fifteen am on Sunday, October

(09:28):
twelfth, police arrived at the homeof Yvonne's parents and spoke to Sippy Archiletta,
informing him that his daughter had beenmurdered. Both Sippy and Yvon's son,
Gabriel, were present, and bothwere in an obvious state of shock.
They agreed to come to the stationthat morning to provide any information that
would help the investigation. The interviewsbegan around eight am that morning. Sippy
told police that he hadn't seen hisdaughter in around two weeks, but had

(09:52):
spoken to her on the phone justa few days prior. Yvonne had called
the family home asking to speak toher son and was disappointed to learn that
he wasn't there. Sippy tried tomake conversation with Yvonne, but said that
she ended the call soon after.Sippy then described the family dynamic to officers,
explaining that Yvonne's battle with alcoholism hadcaused her and her son's relationship to
deteriorate. Gabriel had been living withSippy and Mary for the last two months

(10:16):
after a court had granted them fullcustody. On Saturday, October eleventh,
Sippy and Gabriel had made plans totravel to Yvonne's trailer to pick up some
of Gabriel's belongings that were still inthe home. They stopped by a gas
station on the way and Gabriel pickedup pizzas for himself and Yvonne. When
they arrived, Sippy waited in thetruck while Gabriel went inside. When explaining

(10:39):
why, he said that he andhis daughter don't see eye to eye when
she is intoxicated, and he wouldusually stay out of the way to avoid
disagreements. After a few minutes ofwaiting, though, Gabriel returned to the
truck with his belongings and told Sippythat Yvonne was not home. Sippy then
watched Gabriel secure the trailer and theyreturned home together. Officers asked Sippy if
he was aware of any romantic interestingYvonne's life, but he was unsure.

(11:01):
Sippy said that there were always peoplein her trailer whenever he had visited,
but he had never stayed around toget to know anybody. Gabriel's interview then
took place, and he told policethat the last time he spoke to his
mother was on a phone call threedays prior. She had informed him about
a physical fight that had recently occurredbetween her and her best friend, Debbie
Martinez. Yvonne had told him thatshe had traveled to Coyote with Debbie to

(11:24):
go partying with Debbie's boyfriend. Shetold him that they were having a good
time, but at some point thewomen had gotten into an argument before hitting
each other. Yvonne mentioned that duringthis fight she had been hit in the
face with a beer bottle. Gabrielwas unaware of any further details, but
believed alcohol was likely involved. Sippyand Gabriel then returned home. However,

(11:45):
Sippy contacted the police just a fewhours later, asking if they could interview
another one of Yvonne's friends, Paula, as she had some more information about
the fight that had occurred. Paulaspoke with police, explaining that she had
met with Yvonne on October seventh,and they had spent the evening discussing the
incident between Yvonne and Debbie. Yvonnehad mentioned that they were having a good
time drinking and dancing when she startedchatting to Debbie's boyfriend Manuel. Debbi noticed

(12:09):
the pair having a conversation and quicklybecame jealous, accusing Yvonne of flirting with
Manuel and lashing out at her.The fight began and went on for a
few minutes before Debbie picked up abeer bottle and hit Yvonne in the face
with it, causing a cut aboveher nose. After this, Manuel had
separated the two women, and Yvonnewalked out of the home upset. Paula

(12:30):
and Yvonne had spent the rest ofthe evening chatting before she eventually drove Yvonne
home. A few days went byand Paula received a call from Yvonne on
October tenth. She told von thatshe was busy at work and would call
her back, but she had gottendistracted and she hadn't heard from her since.
The investigation continued throughout the day.On Sunday, October twelfth, detectives
began processing Yvonne's home and hoped togather more evidence that would lead to answers.

(12:54):
Unfortunately, there were no tire orshoe prints that matched those at the
crime scene, and police were onlyable to recover three fingerprints from the front
and rear door of the trailer.They noted that Yvon's rear door was splintered
and unable to be locked, butSippy told police that Yvonne would prop a
metal chair up against it to keepit closed. After photographing and searching the

(13:16):
trailer, it was determined that theonly item missing was Yvonne's cordless phone.
Detectives then returned to the crime sceneto request an update from forensic technicians.
They were advised that only two setsof footprints were found in the immediate area,
with one set determined to be Yvanne's. At this stage, they believed
that she was killed by a lonesuspect. Crime Scene technicians had also located

(13:37):
one of Yvonne's earrings about twenty fivefeet away from where her body was found,
and they believed that this was likelythe area where the initial attack took
place. Another cigarette was found nearby, as well as a pencil and an
impression of pliers in the sand.The forensic team had cast the impression of
the pliers and collected the other itemsfor further analysis. Processing of the crime

(13:58):
scene was pleated at around three thirtypm that day and Yvan's body was removed
shortly after. Yvan's autopsy took placethe following day, on Monday, October
thirteenth, and determined that she hadbeen shot twice. The first gunshot wound
had entered her upper back and hadexited through her left shoulder, causing the
large lacerations seen by officers at thescene. The second gunshot had entered her

(14:22):
right cheek, causing two skull fracturesand major bleeding. There were also visible
blunt force injuries on Yvan's arms,legs, and ankles. One of her
fingers was bruised and the nail wastorn. The pathologist stated that while the
second shot had not entered Ivon's brain, the bleeding and bruising of the surrounding
soft tissue had led to brain hemorrhaging, which had eventually caused her death.

(14:45):
The toxicology report determined that Yvonne hadalcohol in her bloodstream, but no other
substances were found. During examination,the pathologists also discovered a star shaped pattern
on the back of Yvan's jacket wherethe first bullet had entered. He concluded
that Yvonne had like been shot withbullets covered by a plastic casing known as
a sabbat, which were known tocause this distinctive pattern. With this information,

(15:07):
officers began investigating the possibility that thesuspect had used thirty caliber accelerator cartridges
to shoot Vaughan. In summary,these cartridges are made by placing a twenty
two caliber bullet inside of a plasticcasing or a sabot, which then allows
it to be inserted into a thirtycaliber weapon. The twenty two caliber bullet

(15:28):
can be fired at a much highervelocity, which causes a devastating impact.
Detectives began interviewing store owners to determinewhere the suspect may have purchased this unique
type of ammunition. After questioning multiplestores, they eventually spoke to one local
gun store owner who claimed he hadrecently sold two boxes of the Ruminton thirty

(15:48):
six accelerator cartridges. The owner hadn'tsold these cartridges for around six years,
but had purchased two boxes by accidentearlier that year. Around a month prior,
a male had entered the store andrequested the bullets specifically before paying in
cash. The store owner said theman had arrived on a turquoise colored Harley
Davidson and a woman was present withhim at the time. The man then

(16:11):
returned two weeks later and bought thelast box, but this time he was
alone and driving an older model car. The store owner described the man as
tall and muscular, with a lightbeard and a mustache. He was wearing
glasses and a Derby style hat.Since purchasing the last box, he had
not returned to the store. Afterspeaking to the store owner, detectives returned
to the crime scene with a metaldetector to try to locate the projectile.

(16:34):
They scanned and sifted through the soilfor hours, locating two adult teeth,
which were later determined to be Yvonne's. Unfortunately, they were unable to locate
either of the bullets. We're goingto take a quick break. Later that

(17:10):
day, police received a phone callfrom Yvonne's friend Gloria and learned that her
sister Tina, had taken Yvonne toa casino on the evening before she was
discovered. After meeting with both sisters, police traveled to the ok Owingay Casino
and spoke to the surveillance operation manager, Anne Vargas, who allowed officers to
access the surveillance videos from the Fridayevening. The surveillance showed von arriving at

(17:33):
around eight thirty PM and entering throughthe front entrance of the casino. Through
the evening, she had spent mostof her time in the casino or bar
area and was observed chatting with lotsof different people. Yvonne was seen leaving
the bar for a final time atone thirty two AM. Prior to exiting
the casino, she was recorded chattingwith a male who was later identified as
a regular named Patrick. She thenleft through the rear doors at one point

(17:56):
fifty am and walked away alone.This was the last official sighting of Yvonne.
The attending officers requested a copy ofthe tapes to place into evidence,
but due to the tribal laws,the casino would not allow the footage to
be taken off the property. Theofficers were assured that the casino would keep
a copy of the tape so thatthey could be accessed in the future if

(18:17):
needed. Police then located Patrick andbrought him to the station for questioning.
He explained that he had seen Yvonneat some point through the night, and
believed he may have even hugged herat one point. However, he told
officers he was very intoxicated, sohe spent the entire day drinking alcohol with
his friends. Prior to leaving thecasino, at around two am, Yvonne

(18:37):
had approached him and asked if hecould give her a ride home. He
and his friends were planning to getsomething to eat, so he told her
he would give her a ride laterif she was still around. Patrick and
his friends then went to a nearbyrestaurant and ordered food. A short while
later, Yvonne entered the restaurant andasked Patrick for a ride again. He
said he and his friends didn't reallyacknowledge her request as they were all drunk

(18:59):
and want to to eat. Yvonnethen left the restaurant. Patrick denied any
involvement in Yvonne's death, and,following the interview, provided officers with the
unwashed clothing that he was wearing thatFriday evening. On Thursday October sixteenth,
five days after Yvonne's body was found, police located Debbie Martinez and questioned her
regarding the fight that she had withYvonne. Debbie described her and Yvonne as

(19:22):
best friends who had remained close formany years. She said she had driven
to Yvonne's trailer on October fourth topick her up, and they traveled to
the Coyote to visit Debbie's boyfriend Manuel. They arrived at his home at around
one pm that day. According toDebbie, they all had a bit too
much to drink, and after seeingManuel and Yvonne chatting, she got jealous
and confronted her. She confirmed thatshe had hit Yvonne in the face with

(19:45):
a glass bottle, and that Yvonnehad left after the fight was broken up,
Yvonne had begun walking along the highwaytrying to return home to Espanola.
Debbie said that she sat there angryfor a while before realizing that Yvonne was
her best friend and quickly decided togo after her. She eventually caught up
with her and said they had apologizedto each other before Yvonne agreed to return
to Manuel's home. Debby said theythen continued parting for a few hours before

(20:07):
they all fell asleep. She toldpolice that Yvonne had left by herself sometime
in the early morning hours, whichwas not something that was unusual for her.
Debbi explained that in the days priorto their fight at Manuel's house,
Yvonne had called her and told herthat an Indian mail had showed up at
her trailer unexpectedly and began asking herfor sex. Yvonne said that he would

(20:30):
not take no for an answer,and she eventually had to throw him out.
She did not mention his name.Debbi was also aware of a male
named Sisto, who had been involvedwith Yvonne. She told police that he
owned a red colored pickup truck thatshe had seen several times outside of Yvonne's
trailer. Finally, police asked Debbieif she had any involvement in Yvonne's death,
and she became upset as she toldthem she didn't. The same day,

(20:53):
detective received the call records from Yvonne'shome. The cordless handset remained missing,
and the records puzzled police even more. They discovered that ten calls had
been placed between three sixteen and threeforty three am on Saturday, October eleventh,
an hour after Yvonne had been capturedleaving the casino on CCTV. They

(21:15):
hadn't yet determined whether Yvonne had madeit home, and it appeared somebody had
used her handset to call a variationof similar numbers over and over until the
call finally went through. After furtherinvestigation, the number was found to be
registered to a Debbie Martinez in Colorado. It's important to note that this was
not the same Debbie Martinez who wasYvonne's best friend. Before officers could act

(21:38):
on this information, they received anothercall from Anne Vargas at the ok casino,
asking officers to show up because shebelieved she had found footage that would
help their investigation. Police went backto the casino, where Anne showed them
the footage of Yvonne wandering aimlessly foraround thirty to forty minutes before approaching the
money cage. Another male enters theframe. Yvonne seemed to acknowledge him before

(22:00):
speaking with the cashier Andrea. Yvonnecould then be seen walking away. After
viewing the tape, officers located Andreain the casino and asked about her interaction
with Yvonne. She remembered that Yvonnehad approached the money cage at around twelve
forty five am and had handed hera check to be cashed. Andrea said

(22:21):
something felt off with the check andshe feared it was fraudulent, so she
declined it, and Yvonne began pleadingwith her. After Andrea insisted that she
was not going to cash a check, Yvonne became upset and left. Yvonne
walked in the opposite direction towards twomales who were sitting near an ATM.
As Yvonne got closer to them,the males stood up and began walking in

(22:41):
the same direction as her, leadingAndrea to believe that the three of them
were together. Officers took Andrea tothe surveillance room and asked her to point
out Yvonne on the footage, aswell as the two males who she believed
were following her. These males werelater identified as two cousins. They were
brought into the station for questioning onSunday, October over nineteenth. As officers

(23:02):
began questioning one of the brothers,it became clear that he was under age
and believed that he was in troubledue to his use of the casino and
alcohol consumption. The detective explained thatthey were investigating the murder of yvon Martinez
and asked why it appeared that heand his cousin were following her that evening.
He became visibly confused and he couldnot remember ever seeing Yvonne and had

(23:23):
no idea why it appeared that way. After the interview concluded, he was
escort at home and provided police withthe clothing that he wore that evening.
Both he and his cousin were thenruled out as suspects. On October twenty
first detectives continued their investigation into themysterious calls made from Yvon's residence in the
early morning hours of October eleventh.After arriving in Colorado, police visited the

(23:45):
home where the number was registered andspoke to Debbi, who admitted she had
no idea who Yvonne was. Whilethe interview was taking place, Debbie's daughter
into the room and told officers thatshe remembered numerous calls coming in around three
am that day. Her mother hadspent the evening out, and she told
police that her older sister, Angelica, had answered the call. After speaking

(24:06):
with Angelica, police learned that thecalls were made by one of her mother's
friends, Andy Borden. She saidduring the call, his speech was slurred
and he was mumbling incoherently, askingto speak to her mother. Angelica told
Andy that her mother was at home, and he insisted on speaking to her
instead. Eventually, Angelica got upsetwith him and ended the call. He

(24:26):
had tried to call a few moretimes, but she refused to answer.
Angelica told the police that Andrew Bordenhad black hair, a dark complexion,
and lived in New Mexico. Onthe Santa Clara Pueblo, Indian Reservation officers
returned to New Mexico and located Andy. He was interviewed at around one pm
the following day. According to thepolice report, Andy was visibly nervous and

(24:47):
would not look officers in the eyewhile he was speaking with them. He
was reluctant to talk about himself andwould stumble over his own words when giving
answers. The investigators immediately suspected thathe was being deceptive. Andy was then
questioned about Yvonne. He told policethat he knew of her son, Gabriel,
but had no personal relationship with her. He claimed that he had not
seen her for around a month.Officers asked him what he was doing on

(25:11):
the evening of October tenth, andhe told them that he was attending a
birthday party with his friend Jerry.He told police that he had remained at
the party until the early hours ofthe morning, when he decided to leave
and walked home alone. Police askedif he had stopped by Yvonne's trailer that
evening, and Andy told them thathe hadn't. Police then became frustrated,

(25:32):
admitting that they had evidence that placedAndy in Yvonne's home and demanded that he
start telling them the truth. Eventually, Andy admitted that he had walked by
the trailer on his way back fromthe party and stopped by to see if
she was there. He was awarethat the rear door did not lock,
so he walked around the back andlet himself in. The trailer was empty,
and so he waited for a whilebefore deciding to make some personal phone

(25:52):
calls from her phone. He saidhe then began to grow nervous that yvonn
would return, so he took thehandset outside and continue need to make calls.
He claimed that he was afraid tore enter the trailer, so he
took the handset with him and smashedit to pieces before scattering it on the
way. When asked how he knewher rear door did not lock, he
admitted that he had sexual relations withYvonne in the past and had spent time

(26:15):
in her home. Andy claimed thathe hadn't told the truth initially as he
believed that he would be arrested forletting himself into the trailer, and he
thought he'd be in trouble for usingher phone without permission. As the interview
concluded, Andy agreed to provide anoral DNA sample. He also directed officers
to the area where he had discardedthe handset, allowing them to locate several

(26:36):
of the broken pieces on the ground. Andy's story was then corroborated by his
friend Jerry, who had attended thesame birthday party with him that evening.
However, Jerry claimed to have leftat ten pm and could not account for
Andy's whereabouts After this, Jerry alsoagreed to provide an oral DNA sample.
In the following weeks, police gatheredthe evidence, crime scene reports, and

(26:56):
interview transcripts to conduct a physical evidenceannounce ELIS. In doing so, they
were able to record a summary ofwhat they believed had occurred. Yvonne was
taking a County Road one thirty sixB in a vehicle. Due to the
tire impressions, turning movements track withand tire circumference, they believed the vehicle
was most likely a four wheel drivepickup truck. Paint flakes found that the

(27:18):
scene also led detectives to believe thatthe vehicle was red in color. Foot
impressions showed that after the vehicle hadstopped at the side of the road,
Yvonne and the suspect had walked ashort distance before Yvonne's footprints had suddenly stopped
in this area. Indentations in thedirt showed that a violent struggle had occurred.
Yvonne had fought her attacker, losingher earing and tearing her nail in

(27:40):
the process. Police suspected that Yvonnewas then beaten with a pair of pliers
due to the tool impression in thesand nearby. At some point during the
struggle, she was able to freeherself and began running away. It is
believed that the suspect had then shotat Yvonne, hitting her in the upper
left portion of her back and knockingher to the ground. Police speculate that

(28:00):
the suspect had walked over to Yvonneand shot her again while she was lying
on the ground. The suspect thenattempted to conceal her body in the nearby
trees and manipulated her clothing to makeit appear as though she had been sexually
assaulted. On December sixteenth, twothousand three, a five thousand dollars reward
was offered for any information that wouldlead to the arrest of Yvonne's killer.

(28:21):
Weeks Later, on January tenth,police published an appeal for information after receiving
a cryptic postcard which included vague informationabout Yvonne's death and suggested knowledge of the
suspect. Police asked the person whosent the postcard to come forward, assuring
that they would remain anonymous. Sixmonths after Yvonne's death, the case was
transferred to a new detective agent,Thomas Salazar. After being briefed on the

(28:42):
details, he spoke to the otherofficers in the department to get a general
idea of what they believed happened.The consensus was that Chris Branch, the
man who tried to take his ownlife on the evening that Yvonne was discovered,
was likely responsible. They advised himthat Chris owned a red four wheel
truck at the time, which hadn'tbeen seen since the day of Yvonne's murder.
He had also been arrested on domesticcharges just days after Yvonne's body was

(29:06):
found, and had visible scratches onhis face and neck. Agent Salzar spoke
with Chris's mother, Elaine, whoinsisted that her son had an ongoing alcohol
addiction but was not a murderer.She showed the detective to Chris's red truck
in the yard and said that thevisible damage to the passenger side had occurred
prior to Yvonne's death. The detectivethen spoke to Chris directly, who confirmed

(29:27):
that this truck had been wrecked duringan accident in September and a police report
had been filed at the time.He said that the scratches on his neck
on October sixteenth were sustained during adomestic incident, which he was arrested for.
He denied involvement in the death ofYvonne and said the only information he
had was what he had learned fromthe newspapers at the time. On July

(29:48):
sixteenth, two thousand and four,the team received confirmation from a private forensic
laboratory that a major male DNA profilewas found on Yvonne's fingernail clippings. The
DNA was entered into CODIS, butno matches were found. Months later,
Agent Salazar was requested to speak toa male named Diego Maestas who was incarcerated
at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque. He claimed he had previously lived with

(30:11):
Yvonne and Gabriel, and that hebelieved Gabriel was going crazy, as he
knew who was responsible for his mother'sdeath but was too afraid to tell anyone
about it. The detective gathered aDNA sample from Diego and made a report
of his claims in the following months. After speaking with Gabriel, it was
determined that he was experiencing a mentalhealth crisis and had no additional knowledge about

(30:33):
Yvonne's death. Regardless, Gabriel agreedto provide a voluntary DNA sample, which
was collected and stored. Agent Salazarthen decided to reinterview Debbie Martinez, Yvonne's
best friend at the time. Debbiewas also incarcerated in Rio Aarriba County.
The detective was investigating a local theorythat Debbi had asked an Eighteenth Street gang
member who was friends with her sonto murder Yvonne after the fight. Debbie

(30:57):
denied those claims. She said thatYvonne was a good person until she was
drunk, and they'd had many drunkenarguments throughout their friendship that had never led
to anything serious. This time.She denied ever hitting Yvonne with a bottle
and told detectives that most people believeDerek Lane is responsible. Following this discussion,
Agent Salzar began looking into Derek Laneand discovered that he had a long

(31:19):
criminal history dating back to nineteen ninetyfive, which included burglary, aggravated battery,
and drug offenses. The detective alsodiscovered Derek's involvement in an eerily similar
case that had occurred two weeks afterYvonne's body was found. Twenty five year
old Arianna Rindon was out parting withher friends at Club Tropicana in Espanola on

(31:41):
the evening of October twenty eighth,two thousand and three. She remained there
until after midnight, when she exitedthe venue, climbing into a van with
one of her friends and an unknownmail. That mail turned out to be
twenty one year old Derek Lane.At some point during their journey, Arianna's
friend asked to leave the van asDerek could begun making strange comments and freaking

(32:01):
her out. He pulled over tolet her friend exit the vehicle before driving
off with Ariana. This was thelast time Ariana was seen alive. Her
body was found days later at theside of the road on US two eighty
five, and it was determined thatshe had been beaten to death following a
brutal sexual assault. At the timeof her death, Ariana was working as

(32:22):
a slot machine girl at the okeOwinge Casino, where Yvonne was last seen.
While following up on this, lead, agent Salizar interviewed a man named
One who had been living with DerekLane's cousin during the period of the murders.
Juan claimed that in late October oftwo thousand and three, Derek Lane
had arrived at their residence and askedif he could trade his red van for
some cocaine. When asked why,Derek told them that the van contained evidence

(32:45):
from him killing Ariana Rendon and thewoman from the casino. The detective followed
up on this information by questioning DerekLane. At the time, he was
incarcerated on numerous charges and awaiting trialfor the murder of Ariana Rendon. Derek
claimed that accusations were false and hewas not involved in Yvon's death. He
also provided the police with a DNAsample. Over the course of the investigation,

(33:07):
police had gathered DNA from Andy Borden, his friend Jerry, Yvonne's son
Gabriel Diego, Maestas and Derek Lane. The swabs were sent off to be
compared to the male profile found underYvon's fingernails, but all provided negative results.
By the second year anniversary of Ivan'smurder, the case had gone cold.

(33:28):
In April twenty ten, Yvonne's sonGabriel also passed away at the age
of twenty five, leaving the entireArchileitha family devastated. Three years later,
Yvonne's father, sixty nine year oldSippy Archiletta, also tragically passed away.
According to reports, Sippy had beentraveling home at around eleven pm when he
was hit by a driver who hadnot seen him walking on the side of

(33:49):
the road. He was well knownin the community due to his lifelong career
in the postal service, and heis dearly missed by many. Unfortunately,
both passed away with out ever knowingwho had taken Yvonne's life. In April
twenty nineteen, the case was reopenedand a review was carried out. Officers
sent off both cigarettes found at thescene, as well as Chris Branch's suicide

(34:10):
note and watch for further analysis.DNA collected from one of the cigarettes was
deemed too insufficient to provide a fullDNA profile, and the rest of the
items provided negative results. It's nowbeen twenty years and investigators are no closer
to determining who was responsible for Yvon'sbrutal murder. However, they believe somebody
has answers and can provide peace toher remaining family members. If you have

(34:35):
any information regarding this case, pleasecontact the New Mexico State Police Cold Case
Homicide Unit at five oh five eighttwo seven nine zero six six or email
Coldcase Dot Homicide Unit at State dotNM dot US. Okay, that's the
end of the episode, and Ipromised that I would have an important announcement
for you at the end, socongratulations, you made it. So this

(34:59):
is announcement. True Consequences Podcast hasbeen under my LLC known as True Consequences
Productions since I started this podcast,and things have gotten a little bit difficult
for me. As I mentioned before, I got promoted at work and my
job has really started to take alot of my free time away from me,

(35:22):
which has made it difficult for meto produce new episodes. I've been
thinking long and hard about this,and I've decided that I'm going to merge
True Consequences podcasts with Angels Voices SilenceNo More. Now, I've talked about
this a few times, but ifyou don't know, Angels Voices, Silence
No More is a nonprofit that Ifounded along with my mom to help family
members in New Mexico who are fightingfor justice or looking for answers for their

(35:45):
missing loved ones. The organization itselfgrants funds to families to pay for things
like funeral expenses, search and rescueparties, DNA testing, billboards, internet
ads, flyer printing, counsel andanything that a family may need in their
fight for justice or answers. So, starting in May, True Consequences is

(36:07):
going to be the voice of AngelsVoices, Silence No More. We're still
going to cover unsolved cases. I'mstill going to do the advocacy that you
all know and are used to that'sstill happening. We're going to be working
more closely with families that we're helping, and also providing some positive updates and
hopefully brings some much lighter episodes thatare going to be uplifting and positive and

(36:30):
hopefully help balance out some of thesadness that we talk about the other thing
I want you to know is thatwe're going to be going bi weekly going
forward now, and that's just sothat I can accommodate producing an episode within
my schedule and make it easier forme to get the content to you.
And then any ad revenue or anythingthat is generated from merch or anything else

(36:52):
will be donated directly to Angel's VoicesSilence No more so by listening to this
podcast, you are going to behelping out families any Mexico directly who are
fighting for justice. So you reallyare true advocates, and I would just
ask that if you could, ifit makes sense for you, if you
have the budget, please patronize oursponsors because those sponsors are going to keep

(37:15):
us providing this mission in helping familiesthat are fighting for justice. Stay tuned
in more information as it comes outin the future, but I just wanted
to let you know that this iscoming, and as things become more solidified,
I will continue to update you aswell. So for now, we'll
be going bi weekly and you'll startto hear things slowly changing over time as

(37:36):
we lead into May. But fornow, I just want to say thank
you so much for sticking with meand being patient while I've been out,
and thanks for listening. Stay safe, New Mexico Stott Att