Episode 324

In the mountain valley town of Questa, New Mexico, a group of teenagers spent a summer afternoon the way so many do: unsupervised, a little bored, and pushing boundaries. But by nightfall, 13-year-old Amber Archuleta was dead. What followed was a tangle of grief, blame, and questions about the adults who were supposed to be keeping them safe.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence, and is
not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
We don't have another pace to go for get better.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
You appreciate that as a dead girl on your porch.

Speaker 4 (00:17):
Right, yeah, I don't have an option either.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Fifteen year old Frankie Archiletta is running as fast as
he can. Each step kicks up a cloud of dust
as one four Cabresto road shrinks behind him. That's where
police were supposed to go, but they missed it, and
now Frankie has to find them. His lungs burn, partly

(00:53):
from the running, but mostly from panic. Finally he sees
the red and blue lights getting closer. Frankie frantically waves
his arms, trying to flag them down. The cruiser barely
slows to a stop before Frankie jumps in the back seat.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
Here this turn Centena nor the gate.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
Yeah there's the gates.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yeah yeah, yeah, fa yeah yeah, just go in. I know, dude,
I'll do.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
It's July twenty eighth, twenty twenty three, and earlier in
the afternoon, multiple calls came into the Questa Police department.
A thirteen year old girl has been shot somewhere on
Cabresto Road. But his dispatch tried to confirm the details.
Everything blurred into confusion, wrong addresses, contradictory witness statements, even

(01:49):
someone mentioning that the shooting was a drive by. By
the time police and ems arrived, they weren't sure which
house was the right one.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
She's she said, I think, well, I don't know. She's
on the ground somewhere.

Speaker 5 (02:05):
They're locked from the down door.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
Poorsville foretels.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
They've already wasted precious minutes. Meanwhile, Frankie's sister is bleeding out.

Speaker 5 (02:21):
They can come by if they want, or they can
patrol the area. I have a possible suspect vehicle of
a black yukon tinted windows and No.

Speaker 6 (02:30):
Twenty eight.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
Frankie and the growing squad of quest of police officers
run towards the patch of dry dirt near the back
porch attached to the house. All the properties off Cabresto
Road are rural and sprawling. There are plots of land
with blurred borders, spotted with prefab homes and sheds, farming equipment,

(02:51):
broken down vehicles, and herds of fenced in farm animals.
By now there's a group of police officers huddled around
frankie sister her Amber. She's lying face up, her wound
bleeding into the dry ground around her head. Frankie is frantic,
to say the least. Everything happened so fast he hasn't

(03:16):
even had time to call his dad and alert him.

Speaker 7 (03:18):
Relax, Relax, I don't know.

Speaker 8 (03:35):
You need to back up, sister, You need to back up.
You need to back up, she likes, Okay, I'm.

Speaker 9 (03:48):
Gonna go ahead.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
If Amber dies, the call to his father will be
much more difficult for Frankie to make. Their mother just
passed away previous year. Frankie can't bear the thought of
telling his dad they've lost another family member.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
She still was I'm feeling like she's Where is that at?

Speaker 10 (04:13):
I don't think you guys dispatch the residents.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
I don't care.

Speaker 3 (04:26):
A TV.

Speaker 11 (04:27):
Please hurry up and fucking get someone here.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
There on the way.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
Frankie wasn't the only person who witnessed the shooting. Crouching
next to Amber's lifeless body is fourteen year old Keana Gonzalez.
You can hear her crying. She's been on the phone
with nine to one dispatch, her hands covered in blood,
she's sobbing and at some point she got bit by

(04:53):
a dog. Her medical needs are obviously not the top priority,
but she doesn't care. I remember the girl dying on
the ground is key on his girlfriend? Where did this happen?

Speaker 3 (05:05):
Right here?

Speaker 12 (05:07):
You don't want to war?

Speaker 13 (05:08):
And then I don't know what happened.

Speaker 3 (05:13):
We do have them to make the murder for red.
We did pay quest the fire fire so much for.

Speaker 14 (05:20):
Anyone's in the area.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
Is anything I can do?

Speaker 15 (05:32):
Still, she still has a post study and I'm gonna
have to ask you, bro, what you're doing right now
is not helping. I'm gonna need to either go sit
down over here or just give us a second. Okay,
you don't need to be upset. I understand, I understand,
But what you're doing right now is I understand. But
what you're doing right now is not helping.

Speaker 2 (05:47):
Okay.

Speaker 15 (05:47):
I'm not trying to be an asshole to you. I'm
not trying to be an ashole to I'm trying to
help you. But okay, this is what you're doing right
now is helping. Please just get go over there with that.

Speaker 3 (05:55):
I could do much.

Speaker 15 (05:56):
Well, here's the here's the thing, dude. The medics are
on the way. All we can all we can try
to do is keep pro live about the medics she is.
She has a pulse you need. It's pretty good. So
can you please just go over there and let us
do our job.

Speaker 2 (06:07):
Please. It's okay, it's okay. But I understand your upset.
I totally get it.

Speaker 15 (06:10):
Okay, but the cats for the cast inside, guy, we're
gon we're gonna we're gonna need.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
You back up. Please please please, guys in here is
not gonna help you.

Speaker 15 (06:19):
Leave me.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
Let us do our job.

Speaker 15 (06:21):
Let us let us do our jobs. Travis knows exactly
what he's doing. Travis knows exactly what I understand. I
understand the closer you are. Yes, so she have a pulse.
She has a pulse right now. Yes, right now, has
a pulse right now. I just need you, I just
need to step back for a second. I understand it's
your sister, and understand you lolever. We're gonna do everything
we possibly can to help her, Okay, I promise you.
I promise you that. Okay, it's okay, it's okay. I

(06:43):
understand your medal. I understand your medical I'd be mad
to buddy, I'm gonna need you to step back because
are working on her. Let let them work. Stop yelling
at him, stop freaking out, just let us do our job.

Speaker 2 (06:53):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (06:54):
Frankie stomps off, deciding it's time to make that dreaded
phone call to his dad. Meanwhile, EMS still hasn't arrived,
so two of the officers start giving Amber CPR.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
So keep your arms creaking as your body light. Don't
win yourself out too fast because I'm remember.

Speaker 5 (07:25):
See if you can get everybody's information and just start
taking statements. I mean, I know it's fresh and everything,
but at least identify everybody, please.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
Officers begin asking around who owns the house. It isn't
Amber's family's property. Within a few minutes, they confirm it
belongs to thirty nine year old William Brown, an employee
of the Taos County Jail. As far as anyone knows,
William is still at work or on his way home.

(07:55):
He definitely isn't here yet. His son, fourteen year old
poor Furyo Brown, was hanging out with his three friends
at the house when all of this went down. There
were no adults around, but fourteen is an age where
a lot of parents feel comfortable leaving their kids at
home alone. None of that changes what's happening in front

(08:17):
of them. Amber is slipping away and precious time is
running out. Paramedics have still not arrived.

Speaker 3 (08:29):
I can.

Speaker 16 (08:37):
There's no other oh nothing.

Speaker 1 (08:42):
While one deputy does CPR, another gently tilted Samber's head
from side to side, looking for the bullet entry or
exit wounds.

Speaker 5 (08:51):
I can't find anything.

Speaker 3 (08:55):
All right there in the eye. That's what I'm wondering
about right here.

Speaker 2 (08:59):
Yeah, I just don't.

Speaker 16 (09:01):
Want to push.

Speaker 9 (09:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:04):
Another ten minutes go by, and they take her pulse again.

Speaker 16 (09:09):
There's remember almost here. I don't feel anything anymore. I

(09:34):
guess you got shot on the road.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
No, I think so.

Speaker 1 (09:39):
Finally they can see an ambulance pulling up.

Speaker 5 (09:45):
About ten minutes now.

Speaker 3 (09:48):
It happened at Is that what we heard? Yes, so
we're down twenty minutes.

Speaker 1 (09:56):
Down twenty minutes. That means it took paramedics about twenty
minutes to get there after the nine one one call,
but no one knows how long she'd already been lying
there before the call. The officers who were working on
saving Amber can now leave the task to the paramedics
while they gather evidence from the roadway, the spot where

(10:19):
the kids said everything happen.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
In fact, that bell the gate was closed, makes me
think it was out.

Speaker 3 (10:23):
They happened over here.

Speaker 2 (10:26):
Somewhere. And if they were shooting to.

Speaker 15 (10:30):
Help the driver's side smuggling this way, I think possibly
live of blood right here, I'm mean sure if.

Speaker 3 (10:39):
That the boiler of blood it says she wasn't bleeding
into the shots.

Speaker 17 (10:42):
There's no way some blood had come on.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
Keana is the only one around now. Frankie has run
off to talk to his dad on the phone, Porphyrio
is missing an action, and none of the parents are
on the scene yet. Despite the terrible timing, all of
this is about to change. As deputies walk back to
the spot where Amber's body is now covered with a sheet,

(11:08):
they hear the news go to Coude one.

Speaker 3 (11:15):
Okay, so we're gonna shut it, shut.

Speaker 12 (11:17):
Down, clear the scene.

Speaker 5 (11:19):
Let's get some tape and start taping everything off. Tape
everything off, put the unit in the road. I want
to block off whatever we can.

Speaker 1 (11:27):
At the worst possible moment, Frankie and Amber's grandma pulls
up in her red sedan. Their dad is in the
front seat.

Speaker 5 (11:38):
Do you have the father walking in now.

Speaker 3 (11:40):
Uh, he's got carpenter kneepads on a blue T shirt
and a baseball cap.

Speaker 5 (11:46):
Well, I'm trying to block everything off from right here,
so I need you to kind of go.

Speaker 3 (11:49):
Back, please, Well.

Speaker 5 (11:53):
Just I'm sorry, I'm not hi, sir, I understand, So
can you talk to me for just a couple of minutes.
The ems just pronounced her to see Stone.

Speaker 2 (12:03):
My fucking god, man, that's it.

Speaker 18 (12:10):
He's gone.

Speaker 19 (12:11):
He's gone.

Speaker 3 (12:14):
Connect he's referee.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
And just like that, the worst thing imaginable is no
longer a possibility. Instead it's reality. It's July twenty eighth,

(12:49):
twenty twenty three. In the rural town of Questa, New Mexico.
Thirteen year old Amber Archiletta has just been pronounced dead
outside of her friend's house. She's been shot in the face.
Three other kids were there when it happened. Or brother Frankie,
her girlfriend Keana, and her friend Porphyrio. They were all

(13:13):
childhood friends, rural neighbors. You could say. They all lived
within walking distance of each other's houses, and hangouts like
today weren't abnormal. The kids tell police they all saw
someone in a black SUV drive up and shoot Amber
while they were all walking together near the road. This
is Porphyrio Brown's house and his dad, William, works for

(13:37):
Taos County Jail. Talking to him is critical. His dogs
are trampling all over the scene and one of them
has already bitten two people. Not only that, but the
layout of the property is set up so that herds
of sheep block access to other fenced areas. Detectives need
access to the whole property, and they need William to

(14:00):
corral the animals. And there he is. Finally, he's standing
at the front of the house, his cell phone placed
to his ear. Porfyrio is standing just a few feet away.

Speaker 15 (14:11):
Porfilio, can you get the dog in the house please? Okay,
where can we put the dog in? It won't be
biting people, I understand, dude, but we need this. I
understand that you're upset and everything, but we have to
get the dog off the property. We're gonna have We're
gonna have about fifteen police officers here in about fit
in about five minutes, and if your dog's.

Speaker 2 (14:30):
Not off the property's gonna be a problem.

Speaker 3 (14:31):
Dude.

Speaker 2 (14:31):
Can you please get the dog in that?

Speaker 3 (14:33):
All right? Bro?

Speaker 15 (14:36):
They're gonna be walking all through this area and they're
gonna be getting bit by your dog over and over
again if you don't get it off the property.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
William Brown, like we said earlier, works for the Taws
County Jail, so he's no stranger to higher keys of authority.
But now his property is the subject of an investigation,
and somehow he easily slips into the role of someone
who's that more run ends with the law. Then moments
working alongside them, what happens next isn't going to make

(15:04):
him anymore cooperative.

Speaker 4 (15:06):
You just said, come here to me, now, yeah, your son,
well he lost, Yes, he is, by the way.

Speaker 20 (15:16):
Just let me talking to him.

Speaker 21 (15:17):
They me talking to him, just going hey, come on,
wait guys, guys, just let me talk to him.

Speaker 3 (15:26):
We'll let me talk to him.

Speaker 2 (15:27):
Will send me. Calm him down, let me help you
get him up.

Speaker 3 (15:31):
He doesn't have any policy persecutor. You want to stand up,
I'm gonna driving another shoe, all right.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
You gotta calm down.

Speaker 5 (15:38):
Calm down, because you were you were swinging, but you
want to go to argument.

Speaker 3 (15:43):
If he wasn't even know.

Speaker 15 (15:44):
It, he sweah, where are you taking to a unit?

Speaker 1 (15:49):
A unit is just a patrol car, to be clear,
But William doesn't care. Seeing his boy in handcuffs is
all he needs to go into full blown Papa Bear mode.
We haven't even seen half of it yet.

Speaker 4 (16:03):
For what, that's all Anti's need to take this.

Speaker 3 (16:06):
I think it's pretty obviously he's entertaining us.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
Well that but what he didn't do.

Speaker 16 (16:10):
Nothing he needs.

Speaker 3 (16:12):
He's been obtained with us.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
That's just that's it.

Speaker 3 (16:15):
That's gonna be in the end of it.

Speaker 1 (16:16):
Leaving the rook, He's just gonna say.

Speaker 4 (16:19):
You guys can't bring him to the house, the unit
to hell.

Speaker 3 (16:22):
Because it's a crimson. I can't. I can't met anyone
in it.

Speaker 2 (16:25):
So that's the other thing.

Speaker 4 (16:26):
How long is this gonna take?

Speaker 3 (16:27):
As long as it takes. I can't give you answer, because.

Speaker 2 (16:31):
What are you How long is this gonna take?

Speaker 1 (16:33):
Because you know we've been taken.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
Hold on to you, okay, we don't have another pace
to go for get better.

Speaker 3 (16:40):
I mean you appreciate it as a dead girl on
your porch rape?

Speaker 4 (16:43):
Yeah, I don't have an option either.

Speaker 1 (16:44):
As they walk back towards the house, William starts to
yell at Portfario not to talk to cops. Interesting timing.
He also yells at the officer escorting him, telling him
not to talk to his son. Never mind that he
hasn't been mirandized yet. Big Daddy William Brown is on
the case, acting like Portfarrio's stand in attorney. If the

(17:08):
attorney was saw a goodman, that is, and he started running,
he wasn't in the run.

Speaker 3 (17:13):
He started running.

Speaker 22 (17:14):
There's't no footing argument on the try and load up
and swing on it.

Speaker 12 (17:17):
If that wasn't visiting, nor about really a little kid.

Speaker 9 (17:19):
Yeah right kid?

Speaker 3 (17:22):
Hey, you he sucks man, and I don't not start
up with him. Stop you stop stop. I'm not well he.

Speaker 19 (17:31):
Doesn't.

Speaker 1 (17:31):
But what you said, you have a dead girl, and
you need to be like you.

Speaker 3 (17:35):
I do. I've been trying to cooperate with a cross.

Speaker 2 (17:39):
Well they're taking him.

Speaker 1 (17:39):
He said, I could walk with you.

Speaker 3 (17:40):
Guys. They need to calm down.

Speaker 15 (17:42):
I want to put you.

Speaker 2 (17:43):
I wasn't even talking to that.

Speaker 3 (17:44):
I just told him to leave so he didn't aggrevate
you anymore.

Speaker 5 (17:47):
But you can't keep doing this because then I'll put
you in cuffs, and I don't want to do that.

Speaker 3 (17:49):
He's nothing wrong.

Speaker 4 (17:51):
Well let's walk over there, because they're still talking to it.

Speaker 1 (17:54):
Doesn't enp once they get Portfarrio in the back of
the squad car and away from the adults. The state police,
who have been on the scene for a while, have
to explain everything to William and his girlfriend Ashley, well
as much as they can.

Speaker 3 (18:10):
That is, would you be h kid who gives a statement,
I wasn't even going okay, so you just got here
just now? Or did you just get here after? Yeah?

Speaker 4 (18:21):
I was at work when he when my son called
me about it happened.

Speaker 3 (18:25):
Did you sell, sell you anything anything like that.

Speaker 4 (18:28):
He just said that there was a girl that was
shot and he didn't.

Speaker 2 (18:31):
Know what to do.

Speaker 3 (18:33):
Did he say who shot the girl?

Speaker 2 (18:35):
You can't actually, you can't go there. Did he say
who shot the girl? He said a black as TV.

Speaker 3 (18:44):
Black AV Yeah, that's all he said.

Speaker 4 (18:46):
I well, he referred to it as he said it
was a black a CV, he's all he said.

Speaker 3 (18:52):
We told weas I don't know. Was it a Yukon?

Speaker 4 (18:54):
I can't remember, because we resorted to as another girl's
car delight us and then that her family drives that car.
But it wasn't that people, It's just the way, because
that's what he told me.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
He said.

Speaker 3 (19:03):
It was a part of it. Looked like Delilah's And
did it look like Delilah's.

Speaker 4 (19:07):
Yeah, loose, that's another girl that livesn't tell she has
nothing kind of it, But it's what still. I just
cart her moms.

Speaker 23 (19:14):
Awin.

Speaker 3 (19:15):
But did she see who shot him or no?

Speaker 2 (19:18):
He never said.

Speaker 4 (19:19):
He just told me, didn't tell you who it was.
And I he told me that that happened. I was
at work and I just left and then everything else
was done with plus the pedire, So there was nothing
else that he told me other than you know, we
we've been.

Speaker 2 (19:38):
Coopering the whole time.

Speaker 4 (19:39):
Town now appreciate it because this guy asked us to
take off his pants and stuff, and she put him
in a bag down on the counter for you, and
he was basically watching to the window.

Speaker 1 (19:47):
Yeah, he's actually insinuating that one of the officers was
creeping through the window enjoying the view of Portfurio, removing
his bloody pants and putting them in an evidence back. Also,
ain't it weird that the guy who keeps asking the
same questions over and over again, just like his son,
by the way, questions which have been answered, mind you,

(20:08):
what's content with his son? Only giving him vague details
about the dead girl on his property.

Speaker 19 (20:15):
Weird, right, smister Brown, this is who I am, Major
Faul Crumb and then was New Mexico State Police.

Speaker 3 (20:21):
I'm in the case agent for this case. Okay.

Speaker 19 (20:24):
I know you said that your son had already spoken
to a lawyer, so then we'll get a hold of
him and see what he wants to do. All I
can tell you is that this is all brand new
to us. We just showed up. I understand your frustrations,
but let us do our jobs. I can promise you.
All I'm here for is.

Speaker 3 (20:44):
The truth and what's going to him.

Speaker 19 (20:47):
So right, right this second, he's just being detained. I'm
going to get a hold of mister Gower obviously because
of pre preliminary information. Preliminary information that we've received has
given us the right to detain him for right now.

Speaker 3 (21:02):
I can't. I can't.

Speaker 19 (21:04):
There's a lot of there's a lot of stuff that
I can't tell you. I'll tell you as.

Speaker 3 (21:08):
Much as I can.

Speaker 19 (21:08):
I'll be as straight up with you as I can,
but there's just information that I don't share, and that
just just to protect the integrity of the investigation. I'm
the case agent. The buck stops with me. Okay, So
if you have any questions, by all means, call me.
But right now, we just have a lot, a lot
of other stuff to do. That's all preliminary, so we

(21:30):
don't have a lot of information either, but the initial
stuff that we do have gives us the right to
detain your son.

Speaker 1 (21:38):
William has already noticed something strange. Now his son Portfyrio
seems to be the odd one out in his group
of friends and one of.

Speaker 4 (21:47):
The other ones going to be picked up.

Speaker 19 (21:49):
As soon as I get as soon as I get
to that point. Bottom line, I can't give you a
time frame. Do you know where they're at?

Speaker 2 (22:00):
They had them leave.

Speaker 3 (22:01):
I have no idea, Carol, Actually, don't.

Speaker 4 (22:04):
Say anything to nobody, So I'm not saying anything to anybody,
the attorneys.

Speaker 8 (22:09):
I just want to.

Speaker 24 (22:10):
Explain something to them.

Speaker 8 (22:11):
Okay, I'm just.

Speaker 4 (22:14):
You, but you don't speak until the attorney speaks.

Speaker 23 (22:18):
You're going to ask for any questions.

Speaker 19 (22:20):
I'm just telling you this is mister Brown. I understand
your frustration, but let us work.

Speaker 21 (22:25):
Well.

Speaker 4 (22:25):
Yeah, I'm not saying and.

Speaker 3 (22:27):
I appreciate that, but that's that's where we're at.

Speaker 20 (22:30):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (22:31):
If this family of Karen's is so insufferable with a
dead girl on their porch. Can you imagine what the
local Walmart supervisor has had to put up with over
the years. Everything happened so fast, just like the shooting.
But before police gave William this vague explanation, they had
already spoken to Frankie and Keana. While the kids waited

(22:54):
to give their official statements, one officer happened to be
standing near a car. The door was open. Keanu was
talking to her mom, and what she said to her
changed everything. This is gonna be a little bit hard
to hear, but we're gonna play it anyway.

Speaker 25 (23:13):
I'm sitting in his kitchen.

Speaker 14 (23:15):
This one music, I mean fun, and that's when you
start learning what it starts pointing it and the reaction
to Vic has the reaction to her, You're gonna go like,
try to.

Speaker 25 (23:25):
Move their heads and ship and she did that and
the rest her I look, I see a little lunch
that TI gay attach and.

Speaker 11 (23:38):
Fucking dumb ass operators being so stupid. Of course I'll
be fucking freaking out.

Speaker 2 (23:43):
And again, shut the fuck up, shut up, just fucking.

Speaker 24 (23:47):
Listen the hardest you can.

Speaker 2 (23:49):
I don't know what's about to tell you. And she
tries to tell me, do you have any form of idea?

Speaker 26 (23:54):
I'm fucking fourteen.

Speaker 24 (23:58):
If I tell you, I'm I was.

Speaker 14 (24:00):
Born in two thousand and nine, So fuck does that?

Speaker 1 (24:03):
Hello, This dumb bitch's friend just murdered someone, but she's
mad at nine one one instead. Yeah, there's a lot
of that going around anyway. In the beginning of this clip,
if you listen real close, you can hear what she
told her mom. She said, everything was perfectly fine. We
were all sitting in his kitchen listening to music. And

(24:25):
that's when he pulls out the gun and starts pointing it.
Will you look at that? Turns out New Mexico State
Police had a really good reason to detain Porphyrio Brown.

Speaker 2 (24:38):
Okay, so go ahead and tell me.

Speaker 15 (24:43):
What exactly what happened from from the moment before she
was shot.

Speaker 2 (24:48):
Okay, what were you guys doing before she was shot?

Speaker 18 (24:51):
She went having a goal time and she just like
went to the backyard and like we're done nice in pace,
go to.

Speaker 14 (24:57):
Shit, And we ended up going to the and he
ended up.

Speaker 27 (25:02):
Going back into his house and then next thing you know,
he pulls out I think it's a revolver. The one
that has like a spinning barrel.

Speaker 2 (25:10):
Okay, he pulls out of it. It was a handgun.

Speaker 10 (25:13):
Yeah, he pulls that up.

Speaker 15 (25:14):
So just to just to get it straight. You guys
are you guys are in the back of the house, right,
you can hang out playing.

Speaker 10 (25:18):
The first we were perfectly fine, just chilling, nothing wrong.

Speaker 14 (25:21):
And we ended up going inside.

Speaker 27 (25:25):
And then that that's the one he pulls out that
good and I was like, dog, don't even be doing
that because I could be loaded.

Speaker 10 (25:31):
He was also, And then he ends up pointing it
at her and she went.

Speaker 1 (25:36):
And she went to go like like take.

Speaker 10 (25:39):
It away from her face.

Speaker 11 (25:40):
Right, all of a sudden, you just hear a boom.

Speaker 25 (25:44):
I look and I see her poots in the cross.

Speaker 2 (25:47):
So he shot her in the face with the handgun.

Speaker 15 (25:50):
Where where were you guys when he shot her with
the handgun?

Speaker 9 (25:53):
Oh?

Speaker 25 (25:54):
I think the kitchen.

Speaker 2 (25:56):
You guys were inside the house when it happened.

Speaker 15 (25:57):
Yeah, were they joking around?

Speaker 2 (26:01):
Was he mad at her? What was the I don't
know everything.

Speaker 10 (26:05):
She was perfectly fine. Everybody was joking, laughing, and he
pulls it out. I don't even know where he got
it from. And then he he he goes he goes like,
cause like how it was because there's a table against
the wall, and like I was standing against the window
and she was next standing right there in the middle,
and he points at her, and so she like went

(26:25):
to go move it, and.

Speaker 25 (26:27):
That's when you just hear the loud bang and a
little bit of a light and then.

Speaker 11 (26:30):
She drops and next thing you know, she just starts
to glean. But next thing you know, when she does fall,
should we all look? And then that's wants to freak out,
and he's like, let's.

Speaker 10 (26:43):
Take her to the bat and Frankie's.

Speaker 16 (26:44):
All, we'll call on one.

Speaker 27 (26:46):
And I was like panicking. So it took me a
minute to get my phone out of my pocket and
just to dial in general okay, And then finally.

Speaker 11 (26:53):
We were able or well he was able to get.

Speaker 10 (26:56):
Her out, and then me and Frankie were standing out
there with her, well four point somewhere, I don't know where.

Speaker 2 (27:02):
You just go back into the house, yeah, I think so,
I'm not sure.

Speaker 1 (27:06):
Guys, guys, guys, before you get outraged, remember it's the
gun's fault. The inanimate object murdered this girl, not the
ignorant brown kid growing up in gangst the culture with
the approval of his ignorant, brown gun owning parents, who
weren't even home at the time. Remember to assign your
blame in a proper woke fashion. Everyone good, Now that

(27:30):
all the idiots have left and stopped listening, let's continue.
While all this was happening, a detective pulls out his
radio and quietly cancels the BOLO alert.

Speaker 15 (27:41):
Hey, what's going on?

Speaker 6 (27:43):
Can you do me a favorite? Cancel that bolo for
that black of cud.

Speaker 9 (27:47):
Yeah, we kind of already did. Okay, perfect, Okay, any
other updates or nothing?

Speaker 6 (27:55):
So for right now, three polices on scene. These guys,
you're out here there, crime scene guys, you're out here.
So it looks like she'll probably end up taking this
one over from us.

Speaker 9 (28:06):
Huh.

Speaker 6 (28:07):
But we do have possible stufffecting custody and we're going
to be turning him over to six weeks. And so yeah,
I don't think we have anybody any other suspects help standy.

Speaker 1 (28:24):
It isn't until much later, during a follow up interview
that Keana explains why she didn't tell the truth from
the beginning.

Speaker 3 (28:31):
So there was there was a story of a vehicle
driving by.

Speaker 18 (28:35):
Oh yeah, he he made that story up whenever he
shot her and took her outside, when.

Speaker 3 (28:43):
What did he tell you about that?

Speaker 18 (28:46):
He'm trying to make up the story that the drive
by happened like right like next that dumpster in front
of his like on the road chase had drive by
happened right there, and that her brother went to his
house freaking out about it and then up dragging her
over there.

Speaker 3 (29:01):
But m but that's not even close.

Speaker 19 (29:06):
Okay, So was he telling you guys to say that?
I think he wanted us soon He was just saying
that version.

Speaker 18 (29:18):
Yeah, I think he was.

Speaker 3 (29:19):
Okay, do you know who he was on the phone?

Speaker 18 (29:21):
Left?

Speaker 3 (29:22):
By chance?

Speaker 18 (29:23):
It might have been one of his parents.

Speaker 19 (29:24):
I'm not sure though, So so he made sure that
you heard him talking on the phone when he when.

Speaker 18 (29:30):
He gave that yeah, because he walked around me and
her when I was still next to her on the floor,
and he ended up saying, like I heard him on
the phone, was it was a drive by? All of
a sudden some car passed by and the shot her.

Speaker 3 (29:44):
Did he ever ask you to move for him?

Speaker 18 (29:47):
He did ask us to help him pick her up
when no one else helped.

Speaker 3 (29:53):
Because that's that's fupped up and where what did he
want to do?

Speaker 18 (29:57):
I don't know if he wanted to take her side
and like hide the whole fact that he shuddered.

Speaker 3 (30:04):
Well, I mean, if it's talking about it, drive back,
that makes.

Speaker 18 (30:07):
Sense because later on, like he didn't like when he
was on the phone with his daddy, even told him
that he didn't shoot her.

Speaker 1 (30:16):
Assigning blame to a random third party. Weird, that's not
at all what criminals do. I guess that would be
a good time to play the beginning of that nine
to one one call for you.

Speaker 9 (30:27):
What's the location of your emergency?

Speaker 1 (30:29):
What the game?

Speaker 4 (30:31):
Hello?

Speaker 9 (30:34):
Oh, my shot, give me the acca, give me the address.

Speaker 7 (30:39):
But what's that?

Speaker 9 (30:41):
Why they're yelling and I can't understand then what happened?

Speaker 19 (30:46):
My god, my god?

Speaker 9 (30:47):
Shot your girlfriend?

Speaker 5 (30:50):
Yes?

Speaker 9 (30:51):
Where does she get shot?

Speaker 2 (30:57):
Okay?

Speaker 9 (30:59):
Okay, what's your what's your name?

Speaker 28 (31:02):
My name is?

Speaker 9 (31:04):
Okay?

Speaker 12 (31:06):
Remember?

Speaker 23 (31:10):
Is she alert?

Speaker 9 (31:13):
Is your girlfriend alert?

Speaker 5 (31:15):
Oh?

Speaker 23 (31:16):
She's looking on gorgeous right now?

Speaker 1 (31:18):
Worry?

Speaker 9 (31:19):
Okay, we're gonna get somebody out there right now. Stand
the line with me. Don't don't hang up. We're getting
somebody out there, but don't hang up on me. Okay,
come on, just keep her comfortable. Okay, Oh, I.

Speaker 26 (31:38):
Think I don't know if she.

Speaker 9 (31:42):
Sir? Yeah, is she still unconscious? Sir? Is the person
that shot her still there?

Speaker 4 (31:55):
Yeah?

Speaker 15 (31:55):
Wait, no, they drove by.

Speaker 9 (31:58):
It was a dry by you. No.

Speaker 4 (32:02):
I wasn't even really around, l I was opening the bill.

Speaker 9 (32:05):
Okay, do you have an idea of what kind of vehicle? Baby? So?

Speaker 22 (32:09):
Okay, I'm not sure.

Speaker 3 (32:10):
I'm not sure.

Speaker 1 (32:12):
Yeah, let me ask you something, And I want you
to rub those two brain cells together real hard and
see if you can come up with an answer. If
you had just watched someone murder someone else, would your
first instinct be to cover for them? If so, kindly,
fuck off and unsubscribed. Now, now let's hear what Frankie
says when he's confronted with these inconsistencies.

Speaker 3 (32:35):
But what time to tell you guys about the taking
order of the road.

Speaker 18 (32:40):
That's when Hue like, that's when she was actually outside outside.

Speaker 19 (32:43):
That's when she was already outside. Yeah, and you guys
had had called nine one one.

Speaker 4 (32:48):
Yet, I think we'll like right when he like kind
of like drugged her out to like the final squat,
he kept saying he said that, and I was like no,
And then I called in.

Speaker 19 (32:59):
Okay, bit, but you and Keana and poor fall three
talked about a vehicle driving by, about Amber being shot
from a vehicle that drove by.

Speaker 18 (33:11):
I don't I don't know about DJ, but I don't
remember in me singing a vehicle.

Speaker 3 (33:16):
I hope, yeah he did. I know he did. So
what what did you hear?

Speaker 18 (33:22):
Like?

Speaker 3 (33:22):
Could he tell you that story?

Speaker 4 (33:25):
He kept I kept hearing him saying, like, help me,
help me, because that he was going to like his
dad was going to like.

Speaker 3 (33:32):
And he was on the phone when he was saying
help me, or who is he talking to to, like
trying to tell us to like help him? Okay, all right?
And what did porf do with the gun? That's one thing.
I don't know what he did after the fact. Do
you know what Russian roulette is?

Speaker 2 (33:49):
Okay?

Speaker 3 (33:49):
Was he playing that that? You're positive?

Speaker 1 (33:54):
Kid's gonna be pretty stupid. As evidenced by this detective's
question about Russian rouly let, if a false story about
a drive by came from Porphyria, it might team strange
that Frankie and Keana went along with it, But these
four kids were close. Frankie and Porphyrio were best friends,

(34:15):
His best friend had just shot his sister, and in
that moment, Frankie wasn't thinking about justice. He was thinking
about damage control. He didn't know exactly what had happened,
but he knew one thing for sure. It had to
be an accident, didn't it. The story Frankie, Keana and

(35:03):
Porfyrio gave to the police has completely fallen apart. The
black SUV simply didn't exist, and the real shooter is
now sitting in the back of a patrol car. Portfyrio
Brown is fourteen years old, and he had access to
at least one gun. For some reason, he pointed it
at a thirteen year old named Amber Archiuletta in the

(35:27):
face and pulled the trigger.

Speaker 14 (35:30):
When we started. And they're fourteen years old at that,
all of them.

Speaker 3 (35:35):
No, they are all classmates.

Speaker 12 (35:36):
All of them are helping them.

Speaker 22 (35:40):
That was my job's girlfriends that happened.

Speaker 1 (35:44):
That these were classmates. They lived in the same neighborhood,
they were childhood friends. Porforio's father worked for the Taos
County Jail in the past. He was even a guide
for the hunter's safety course. The family have known gun
safety like the back of their hand. Should have been

(36:05):
second nature to them because in many ways it was
their job.

Speaker 3 (36:10):
So when he pointed it at her about how far
away it was about probably about like this. So did
she approach him to get a hope of the gun?

Speaker 18 (36:20):
Well, she was like this, and I don't know if
they went closer to what then like they started struggling
like this, and then like in.

Speaker 3 (36:26):
Time they start yes, And what was he doing with
the other guns? He said, I'm not sure if.

Speaker 18 (36:32):
He was just pulling them out to show him off,
to see if he was cool or what.

Speaker 8 (36:36):
But he just pulled him out and he didn't do
nothing with him.

Speaker 18 (36:40):
So then he ended up doing I think you put
him on the counter or something. I don't even know.

Speaker 2 (36:44):
I thought, like jendly, he was.

Speaker 20 (36:45):
Really chill guy.

Speaker 18 (36:46):
Like we always used to hang out.

Speaker 14 (36:48):
I'm sure chill have a good time.

Speaker 18 (36:50):
He was like always the homie. Yeah, never really thought
anything bad about him, thought you'd do anything. But like
I always knew, like he always like to like be
people up, but they like disrespect him or whatever.

Speaker 3 (37:02):
But I didn't he like to fight, Yeah, but I didn't.
I grew up and asked me, that's not that big
of a deal.

Speaker 18 (37:10):
But I didn't think he'd ever like pull a gun
out and someone.

Speaker 3 (37:12):
Like actually shoot them, And he never and he was
never mad about anything.

Speaker 18 (37:18):
Everyone was laughing, having a good.

Speaker 3 (37:20):
Time, but he was just having a good time. Do
you feel like he meant to do this?

Speaker 18 (37:25):
I don't know, because I could think about it. He
didn't see him mad or anything. But then why would
he have his finger on the trigger.

Speaker 3 (37:32):
Or just do that?

Speaker 16 (37:33):
So I don't even know.

Speaker 3 (37:35):
Did he ever? Do you ever know of him to
pull guns out on somebody else, on other people?

Speaker 18 (37:40):
I've heard about it, but I wasn't sure if he's true.

Speaker 3 (37:42):
You've heard about it, but you've never seen it.

Speaker 20 (37:44):
Yeah, was he?

Speaker 3 (37:45):
Is he known to carry a gun?

Speaker 18 (37:48):
I'm not sure about like all the time, but sometimes yeah.

Speaker 3 (37:52):
Sometimes like what kind of gun?

Speaker 18 (37:54):
Well, even before whenever, like everything happened when works on
the car, he pulls out like media block. I don't
know what it was like minihandgun black and then he
also had I think a rifle in the car.

Speaker 3 (38:05):
But and do you know does he hunt stuff like that?

Speaker 18 (38:10):
I think he does?

Speaker 3 (38:11):
Yeah, he does. He talk about that a lot.

Speaker 8 (38:13):
Yeah, sometimes has.

Speaker 19 (38:15):
He ever talked about hurting anybody else? Shooting anybody else?

Speaker 18 (38:19):
I mean when you used to talk about beating people's boot,
asked before, but other and then not like gun violence?

Speaker 1 (38:26):
What fourteen year old needs to be carrying around a pistol?
And why didn't anyone teach them the rule that every
gun owner knows, and never point a gun at a
target that you don't intend to shoot, you know.

Speaker 21 (38:42):
And I'm really upset because he's a you know, I
know him, you know, I know him and the wife
and everything, and you know, I never knew that he
was a guy, but you would think he would have
known him better, being a guide in the huntry.

Speaker 3 (38:53):
States and stuff.

Speaker 19 (38:54):
Got several guns in that house. I'm sure you've seen
a lot of guns in that line.

Speaker 1 (38:58):
Yeah, they're just a patriotic, gun loving family.

Speaker 9 (39:04):
Right.

Speaker 1 (39:05):
But after the shot was fired and Amber collapsed, Porphyrio
didn't run for help, He didn't call nine one one.
He started cleaning up and staging the scene, and he
just had her by her arms and no.

Speaker 18 (39:19):
One was helping him, and he just started dragging her.

Speaker 3 (39:24):
What do you mean he wanted you guys to help?
Did he say something?

Speaker 18 (39:27):
Whenever he first grabbed her under your arms, he was all,
help me, help me. We just looked at him, you
guess maybe still in shock or something, because no one
helped him.

Speaker 3 (39:39):
And then so he takes her to the porch or
did he take her all the way to where she was?

Speaker 18 (39:46):
He took her, he stopped her at the porch. That's
whether there's some blood there, right, and then he drop
her off with it.

Speaker 19 (39:54):
And he got on the phone right away. And I
know this is tough, but do you remember brought a
lot of blood being in the house. You said he
cleaned up.

Speaker 18 (40:05):
I'm not sure how much, but it's probably a decent line.
And you could tell that he cleaned because there was
a mob bucket and there wasn't like there was like
a little streak of blood next to the mob bucket.

Speaker 2 (40:18):
But I could tell he.

Speaker 14 (40:19):
Tried to hide some.

Speaker 18 (40:21):
But one thing is whenever I did end up going
back to talk, whenever they moved me from the cop car,
it did seem like he changed his clothes.

Speaker 19 (40:29):
Okay, So a second ago, you said you didn't know
if he hit or did something with the guns.

Speaker 3 (40:35):
Yeah, like multiple guys. Yeah, So what do you mean
by multiple guys?

Speaker 18 (40:39):
Because even at first, before everything happened, he even pulled
out like an ak and it seemed like an ak
it looked like it, and then some sort of other gun.
I don't know my guns, but it was like about
I would say, maybe about this, maybe a little bit bigger.
It was camouflage and they were full rounds. Like the
clip was fool but I don't know if there was

(41:01):
one in the chamber. He ended up putting those ways
and then that's when he pulls out the revolver.

Speaker 3 (41:06):
Did he threaten you guys at all? Were you scared
of him in that point?

Speaker 18 (41:11):
In a moment, I didn't know what could happened, like
he probably could have if he really.

Speaker 1 (41:16):
Wanted to they That's the question, isn't it. Did he
really want to hurt Amber or was he just a
dumb kid trying to look cool in front of his friends.
Here's Frankie again.

Speaker 3 (41:28):
Do you know por carry a gun?

Speaker 18 (41:31):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (41:31):
Sometimes, I mean besides a rifle. Uh once in a while.

Speaker 21 (41:37):
You know, it's coming out a lot that he's actually
been pointing that gun.

Speaker 6 (41:39):
In a lot of.

Speaker 17 (41:41):
I'm curious about that as well. And you know, some
other people said that only the kids knew. But last
weekend at the farmer's market there, you know, there's a
little program for the kids to live there, and I
guess it.

Speaker 21 (41:52):
Only went around the kids. But he had the gun
in his being the whole time here at the farmer's market.
But nobody knew except have you.

Speaker 3 (41:59):
Seen him point a gun at somebody else?

Speaker 29 (42:02):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (42:02):
Are you sure? And be honest with you did I'm okay.

Speaker 1 (42:07):
This is all starting to paint a clear picture. None
of the adults knew it at the time, but Portfarrio
had apparently brought a gun to work at the local
farmers market. He'd been known to show off his guns,
pull them out, and even point them at other kids.
And now a girl was dead. The escalation couldn't have

(42:28):
been more obvious to anyone that was paying attention, that is.

Speaker 19 (42:34):
But as far as evidence, I feel very strong for
our case. I can't tell you exactly what he'll be charged.
I mean, I can tell you exactly what he's been charged.
Ye's it's called an open counter murderer. That is a
you know, that's kind of an all income of saying charge.

Speaker 1 (42:55):
Now Porfarrio has to face the full weight of the law.
Dad might see him as just a kid, but when
you kill someone, the law doesn't always agree. Oh and
the dead girl and the dead girl's family don't care
how old he is. The word of the day on
Swordain scale here is irrelevant. Say it with me eh

(43:18):
re levant. William Brown was focused on his son's legal battle.
What he didn't know was that he was about to
become the first person charged under the new state statute.
By the end of the day, both father and son
would be in handcuffs. The law is called Benny's Law,

(43:39):
and it took effect in June of twenty twenty three,
less than a month before Amber's murder.

Speaker 12 (43:45):
It's been nearly two years since tragedy hit Washington Middle
School in Albuquerque and just rippled throughout our community. Which
should have been a harmless schoolyard argument turned deadly when
thirteen year old Benny Hargrove was shot and killed by
a classmate. To say Benny was just standing up to
a bully, and police say that team was able to
bring the gun to school because it wasn't stored properly

(44:06):
at home.

Speaker 24 (44:07):
This year's state lawmakers passed the Benny Hargrove Bill in
an effort to prevent another similar tragedy, and today that
new law officially is going into effect.

Speaker 26 (44:16):
Democratic Representative Pamela Herndon spearheaded this bill as one of
the sponsors.

Speaker 20 (44:21):
What we are expecting as a result of Benny Hardgrove
Bill going into place is that parents are adults who
have responsibility for firearms, will absolutely restore those, will store
them safely so that children miners do not have access
to them at all.

Speaker 26 (44:39):
House Bill nine acts as a gun safety bill. If
a kid gets a hold of their parent or guardian's
gun and commits a crime, that caretaker can be charged
with a misdemeanor.

Speaker 20 (44:47):
The purpose was not necessarily to punish adults, but the
purpose was to make sure that they are thinking about
what they're doing.

Speaker 1 (44:56):
Gun fanatics, and by gun fanatics, I mean those nutty
democrats that want to take away everyone's constitutional right to
self defense will never admit that conservative gun right activists
are more critical on gun safety than anyone else. If
you have a kid, especially a teenage boy, and you're

(45:17):
not locking up your guns properly, then you deserve everything
that's coming to you. Unless William had his eyes glued
to the news, he probably had no idea that unsecured
firearms could now land him in jail. You see, he
wasn't paying attention. But whether he knew it or not,
William Brown had just become a test case. And the

(45:41):
thing is the guns were all over his house, big
mucho Gundy, and that one.

Speaker 3 (45:49):
There's probably like seven or eight, and that one two
hires me to send or good.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
We're good with this, all right?

Speaker 3 (45:57):
So I have here a return of inventory. All have
you signed?

Speaker 2 (46:03):
We have secured a bunch of firearms.

Speaker 19 (46:05):
Okay, we didn't take any firearms, but we secured a
bunch of firearms because there was a blunch just laying around.

Speaker 3 (46:13):
And with that new law in place, they can't just
be like I guess, unsecured.

Speaker 1 (46:20):
Loaded, unlocked and accessible. As you just heard, there weren't
just one or two guns is lying around. Deputies found
at least seven firearms in a single bedroom. When they
locate William Brown to explain the situation, he stands stiff,
his arms crossed, wearing the blank defiance there of a

(46:42):
toddler who knows they're in trouble but doesn't think it's fair.

Speaker 3 (46:47):
So here's the thing.

Speaker 19 (46:49):
I need you to understand that we're just we're doing
our jobs. We're going to do our jobs best for
our billy. I've got information about what all took place.
And as far as a black suv, it's not that's
that's not kind of have Okay does that make sense
if you're saying I don't, I can't tell you that

(47:10):
was that one?

Speaker 3 (47:11):
Okay? And I get that.

Speaker 19 (47:12):
But another thing that you need to understand is there's
a lot of guns in that house, right and none
of them are secured.

Speaker 3 (47:23):
I have a few that are out. You have a
few that are out. Okay. With that? With that right there,
you put your on your back.

Speaker 2 (47:31):
I don't think.

Speaker 14 (47:35):
Point one is it maybe didn't making the farmum accessible
to a minor.

Speaker 2 (47:39):
Uh there's something gay ball hamor dead.

Speaker 3 (47:42):
So this is no degree.

Speaker 2 (47:44):
Yes, so there it was min that's that we have
enough polls suit to uh actually a real under that
stuff that it was?

Speaker 30 (47:56):
It was it was only guns.

Speaker 1 (47:59):
The bottom line is that it was normal for the
Brown family to give their kids unfettered and unsupervised access
to deadly weapons. It was your firearm. That line hits hard.
But was William thinking about the girl his son killed
or was he already thinking about how to protect himself

(48:20):
and his son porphyria before the ink could dry on
his charging documents, William started spinning his own version of
events when where he was the victim, not the dead
girl him. Within minutes of his arrest, the whole group
was on speakerphone with his employer at the Taos County jail.

Speaker 22 (48:42):
Hey, I don't know what you call Danny and see
either arresting me because there was a shooting at my
house and they're saying, maybe, yeah, for negligent of a
the load of firearm unsecured. Oh, I don't know the
state police, I mean coffs already so that he's holding
the phone now and I'm just calling you to They said,

(49:02):
maybe if I see a judge, So if you can
call the judges, maybe I can get out tonight.

Speaker 3 (49:06):
Okay. So it's like he like.

Speaker 19 (49:11):
He explained that he had a weapon that was not secure,
his son had access to that weapon, and a fourteen
year old girl was shot and killed.

Speaker 3 (49:22):
Yea.

Speaker 1 (49:27):
The while he waited for his first court appearance, something
must have gotten lost in communication because Tass County had
placed him on leave, but he showed up to work anyway.
During the time he was there, he had a lot
to say about his case.

Speaker 30 (49:44):
We were still getting a letter. I was trying to
find a way to put him on administratively without pay,
and I don't want him to say out there, we're
doing in our own internal investigation for policy violations, procuring
Universal to do the investigation. I don't know who's been

(50:05):
assigned yet, but we're gonna look at our own policy
right violations, and I'm gonna outside of what you guys
are doing. And then the other thing that just struck me,
and so I just told Jason is we may have
you may have to interview the shift this morning because
I don't know what was relayed to the other folks

(50:26):
in duty because of the miscommunication he had study. He
showed up to work this morning and then they pulled
him aside and had him.

Speaker 25 (50:34):
Sit in the office.

Speaker 30 (50:36):
When Jason handed him the letter that he was on
paid administrative leave is when he mentioned, anyways, I'm gonna
be I'm gonna be back to work next week because
there's no gun. They're gonna drop all the charges and
I'll be back to work. And then when HR conveyed
to him, hey, this isn't a bount your case, this
is about policy infractions, he was like, oh, and but yeah,

(51:00):
I was thinking about it now. He disclosed the NRA's
going to pay for his legal defense, and he's not
worried about it. And I thought to me, you need
a bunch of cards close And it's just these little things.
I know they're not linkedy conversations, but it's just I

(51:20):
just thought it's interesting, just interesting.

Speaker 3 (51:24):
Yeah, Okay.

Speaker 1 (51:25):
William didn't seem to be worried at all. He was convinced,
for some reason, that they'd never find the gun, that
the NRA would put the bill for his defense, and
that he'd be free of this whole inconvenient ordeal sooner
rather than later. William Brown would be the first person
in New Mexico tried under Benny's law. This added a

(51:49):
political layer to the case. Even so, he was sure
he'd walk.

Speaker 3 (51:54):
That it's not about a firearm. It's not about any firearm.
It's about the.

Speaker 19 (51:58):
Firearm used in the killing of Miss Amberatch Schiletta.

Speaker 23 (52:02):
Brown testified in his own defense today, claiming none of
his guns were missing after the deadly shooting. Prosecutors tried
to poke holes in Brown's testimony by showing him a
picture of a gun that was in his home that
he didn't testify about. They reiterated investigators found unsecured guns
around his home.

Speaker 29 (52:20):
What do we know, Well, we do know that we
had a house. It was the Brown Residence, owned by
the Browns, and that the guns in there belonged to
mister Brown. So we've got photos of the house and
of the weapons and how they were secured.

Speaker 23 (52:42):
Jurors took just two hours to deliberate the first of
its kind case.

Speaker 13 (52:46):
We the jury find the defendant, William Brown, not guilty
of negatine making a fire accessible to a minor, has
charged in count one of the gun jury indictment or
criminal information.

Speaker 1 (52:58):
William walked out of the court a free man. A
real travesty of justice if you ask me, But sometimes
Jerry's are full of idiots. So it was earth so
it tracks. Had he been found guilty, he would have
been facing up to eighteen months in prison, which still
seems to me a bit of a walk in the
park for something so serious. For Amber Archiletta's family, it

(53:22):
felt like a second blow. The man who owned the gun,
who should have known better than to leave it available
for his teenager to use to flash around and brag about,
had walked away a free man. But William wasn't the
only one. They wanted held accountable. William's son. Porfirio, the

(53:46):
boy who pulled the trigger, was still facing murder charges.

Speaker 18 (53:51):
But I know that.

Speaker 19 (53:52):
Die's office is going to try and have him charged
as an adult. I would mope that that's like, there's
no guarantee. I understand that what I would choose.

Speaker 17 (54:05):
Charges just for the fact that he absolutely he tried
covering it up, and he drugged around and threw off
that porch like the donk.

Speaker 3 (54:12):
Absolutely, so I definitely want him to be punished to
the police, and I'm doing everything I can.

Speaker 21 (54:19):
At first, I was on the fins about it because
they were branded, you know that she was there because suggested.
But after him, what I seen her, you know, in
the condition I want him is to you know, to
the fullist extent.

Speaker 1 (54:33):
Porfarrio's first trial began in February of twenty twenty four,
just a few months before his father's not guilty verdict.
Porfarrio was fifteen by this point and was charged as
a youthful offender. It sounds counterintuitive, but this meant that
he could be tried and sentenced as an adult. At trial,

(54:56):
he faced charges of second degree murder, tampering with evidence,
attempted assault of a peace officer Porphyrio Brown.

Speaker 24 (55:04):
He went on trial for second degree murder last week,
but jurors couldn't make a unanimous decision.

Speaker 31 (55:10):
I think there was a lot of emotion from myself
my client. It's just you put in so much effort
for these trials. You really believe in your defense. When
a jerry can't come to a conclusion can feel a
little invalidating.

Speaker 24 (55:21):
Almost, Bunker says. The jury had questions about several pieces
of evidence. First, the initial nine to one one call.

Speaker 31 (55:27):
If the story has been that my kid wanted to
create this drive by story, but if you listen to
the evidence on the nine to one one call, it's
actually the brother who first tells nine to one one
that his sister was shot in a drive by.

Speaker 1 (55:39):
We'll let you decide the likelihood of Frankie coming up
with a story on his own versus the story coming
from Porphyria, who didn't even think to call nine one
one and was instead busy cleaning up what he had done.

Speaker 24 (55:53):
Bunker says. Jurors also asked about a hug between the
brother and Brown on.

Speaker 31 (55:58):
Body camera while the girl is laying there dying. The
brother actually comes up to my client and gives my
client a huge hug, and so to me, that was
very inconsistent, because why are you hugging my client if
you just shot your sister.

Speaker 24 (56:10):
Blood on the brother's arms also came into question.

Speaker 31 (56:13):
He has perfect circular spots of blood on his arm,
He's got blood on the back of his elbow, he
has a watch on, and then.

Speaker 20 (56:19):
He goes home.

Speaker 31 (56:20):
So he and the other juvenile witness they leave the
scene and they're together at another location for over an hour.

Speaker 24 (56:26):
Eight jurors found Brown not guilty. Four thought he was guilty,
but Bunker says they all agreed on one thing.

Speaker 31 (56:33):
Even the four that thought he was guilty said that
they thought this was an accident, and so what they're
trying to charge him with is intentional murder. And all
the jurors unanimously agreed. But whoever the shooter was, this
was an accident.

Speaker 24 (56:45):
District Attorney Marcus Montoya says it's likely his office will
retry the case.

Speaker 18 (56:50):
Guns and gun.

Speaker 29 (56:51):
Violence and going to control are very serious issues, and
this was unnecessary and very traumatic loss of a young life.

Speaker 20 (57:01):
We can ever see that often.

Speaker 6 (57:02):
And upper loud enough.

Speaker 24 (57:03):
Montoya might also have a personnel issue to address connected
to the case. Bunker says, the lead prosecutor wasn't there
for closing arguments.

Speaker 31 (57:11):
We were told she went to the hospital at the
judge indicated he may have smelled alcohol on her breath.
So I'm entirely sure what happened there.

Speaker 12 (57:19):
There may be rumors about.

Speaker 29 (57:20):
That, nothing certainly that I can verify, And even if
you know, we conducted an investigation to find that anything
like that was a potentiality.

Speaker 3 (57:31):
That would be an internal and personal issue for me.

Speaker 2 (57:34):
To deal with.

Speaker 1 (57:35):
Bunker, what an unfortunate name. Then again, who am I
to judge? Bide anyway? Rather than face a second trial,
Porfario accepted a plea deal in August of twenty twenty four.
He pleaded guilty to one single count of tampering with evidence.
In exchange for accepting the deal, the remaining charges, including

(57:57):
second degree murder, were dropped. He was expected to serve
a year of probation, and by the time this episode airs,
his punishment will be over, his victim will still be dead.

Speaker 3 (58:11):
In the end, the.

Speaker 1 (58:12):
Courtroom decisions can't change what happened. Amber Archiletta is gone forever.

Speaker 28 (58:20):
She was outgoing. She had no fear. If there was
a hill, she'd climate. You know, her and her brother,
you know, riding their bike. She was the one popping
the hilies and ramping and stuff like that. I just
want him to remember her for the sweet little thing
that she was. You know, Like I say, she touched
a lot of people, and I just want them to
have those good memories of them.

Speaker 1 (58:42):
Amber took her last breaths in the dry New Mexico
dirt that afternoon. She was only thirteen years old, full
of creativity, making her way through adolescence, and surrounded by
kids who were supposed to be her friends. This story
isn't about a teenager making a horrible mistake. It's about
the environment that allowed it to happen. Adults who never

(59:05):
want to take accountability and leave weapons out within reach,
laws that arrive too late, and the culture that trusts
children around firearms more than the car keys or voting ballots. Oh,
and also really fucking dumb jurys, because who the hell
wants to get out of work to go do that shit,

(59:28):
especially if you have a good job and like it.
Imagine that.

Speaker 19 (59:34):
Well, we're all taught in rural areas like this gun safety,
yet we all know gun safety, yeah, and that's part
of our you know, that's how we brought h.

Speaker 3 (59:46):
I grew up in Espanola and Himita, and it was
no different.

Speaker 16 (59:51):
You know.

Speaker 3 (59:52):
I knew how to handle a gun from an early.

Speaker 19 (59:55):
Age, and I knew that you don't point a gun
at something that you're not willing to shoot exactly.

Speaker 1 (01:00:00):
But knowing the rules doesn't mean everyone follows them. You see,
being an adult, not to mention, being a parent, requires
that you get off your ass and actually do things
that are inconvenient from time to time, like, oh, I
don't know, getting a gun safe, actually using it, and

(01:00:20):
actually teaching your dumb kids about gun safety and about
what not to do with a deadly weapon. But who
has the time when you're busy yelling at the Walmart
manager and asking repeatedly why the Roota Bakus aren't on sale?
They were last week, so why aren't they this week?

(01:00:41):
Are you starting to see how that works?

Speaker 28 (01:01:09):
Well?

Speaker 1 (01:01:09):
That does it? For another episode of what the fuck
is that guy's problem? Anyway? Or as I like to
call it, Sword and Scale. Thanks for joining us. If
you like the show, you can get a video version
of it. We call it Sword and Scale Television or
just Sword and Scale really, but it's available twenty episodes
of it right now at Swordscale dot com. You can

(01:01:30):
get it on Tier two or Tier three of our
Plus subscription platform. It's a great way to support the show.
Another great way to support the show is to buy
a T shirt or a baseball cap, or a pair
of boxer shorts or a pair of socks from our
store at store dot Sword and Scale dot com. But
before I forget, before I forget, this is news you

(01:01:52):
want to hear. This is good news. First of all,
we're gonna be gone for a little bit, but then
we're gonna be back, and then next year we're gonna
have season three of something we like to call Sword
and Scale Nightmares.

Speaker 16 (01:03:24):
Factionation sending