Murphy

Murphy's mother arrested on charges of intimidating witness

Sept 8, 2001

by Aspen C. Emmett
Journal Staff Writer

Not only did accused murderer Shaun Murphy leave the district courtroom in handcuffs Friday afternoon following a preliminary hearing, but so did his mother.

Angel Tacoronte, 34, of Farmington, was taken into custody as she was leaving the courtroom because she allegedly threatened a witness in her son’s trial. The threats were reportedly made against Mary Lobato of Farmington in the courtroom over a lunch recess.

Tacoronte is being held without bond in the Montezuma County Jail on felony charges of intimidation of a witness and menacing, according to District Attorney Joe Olt.

"She seriously intimidated the witness," Olt said. "What exact statements were made — we’re still going through the charging process."

County Court Judge Chris Leroi ruled Friday afternoon that there is sufficient evidence to bind Murphy over to trial in district court on the charges of first-degree murder pursuant to a robbery and second-degree murder.

Murphy, 18, of Farmington, is accused of brutally beating 16-year-old Fred Martinez Jr., who was a gay or transgendered Navajo. Martinez’s badly decomposed body was found June 21 south of Cortez in an area called "the Pits." Several tips to a Crime Stoppers hotline resulted in Murphy’s July 4 arrest.

Although there has been extensive speculation that Murphy might have been motivated by bias because of Martinez’s sexuality, very little was said about it in the courtroom Friday.

During the 4 1/2-hour preliminary hearing in the district courtroom Friday, the lead detective on the case, Steve Harmon, and attorney general’s investigator Kelly Elliassen relayed the details from several witness interviews.

Most of the hearsay testimony focused on two key witnesses who were in Murphy’s company the night of the alleged murder — Melissa Scharnhorst of Cortez and Clint Sanchez of Farmington.

According to an arrest affidavit, Sanchez disposed of Murphy’s bloody clothes and Scharnhorst washed the blood-soaked jeans allegedly worn in the attack. Neither has been charged in relation to the murder, although Sanchez is currently in jail for a parole violation.

While neither witness appeared in the courtroom Friday, Harmon told the court of Sanchez’s claims that Murphy returned from the alleged fight covered in blood and breathing heavily, and that he claimed to have "bug-smashed a joto" — a term Sanchez reportedly told authorities is derogatory Spanish slang for a homosexual. Murphy reportedly had no injuries himself, Harmon said.

In a later interview, Sanchez told police that Murphy had claimed to have beaten up two people and robbed them each of $20.

Scharnhorst has reportedly made similar claims in interviews with police.

Harmon told the court that, during interviews, Murphy’s story had changed: First he was attacked from behind by two males while walking down the street; then there was only one guy who "jumped" him; finally, Murphy told authorities he and Martinez had gone to the Pits to smoke a joint and that Martinez had attacked him, and he struck him with a rock only to defend himself.

According to closing arguments by Murphy’s defense attorney, Pamela Brown, Murphy does not deny fighting with Martinez, but maintains he acted in self-defense and never robbed the boy. Brown compared Martinez’s 6-foot, 175-pound build to that of Murphy’s 5-foot-8, 140-pound stature.

The defense attorney told the court Martinez attacked Murphy, striking him in the neck, and only then did her client pick up a rock and bludgeon Martinez.

"The person (Martinez) was on top of him and hitting him, and so he did pick up the rock to get the guy off of him," she charged. "He (Murphy) did not say that he intended to kill him. He did not say that he did anything except to try to get the guy to stop fighting with him. He then got up and ran."

Further, Brown dismissed Sanchez’s claims as self-serving to avoid prosecution when, in his third interview with police, he mentioned robbery as part of the attack.

"He was making a deal for himself," Brown said.

Despite defense motions for dismissal, Murphy’s case was tentatively set for trial Feb. 20.