Murder Case Moves Along

Prosecutors can move forward with criminal charges against a woman accused of killing an old friend with a sword in Santa Fe, following a state District Court judge’s ruling on Monday that there is enough evidence for a trial.

First Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled from the bench after a nearly three-hour preliminary hearing. That means Kiara McCulley, 20, can go to trial on two of the three charges sought by the district attorney’s office. McCulley is accused of killing Grace Jennings in a detached garage at McCulley’s mother’s house last fall.

After noting there’s a “low standard” for probable cause—the hurdle prosecutors had to clear at this point in the proceedings—Marlowe Sommer said the evidence presented by Deputy District Attorney Kent Walquist for two of the charges met that threshold.

“There is certainly sufficient evidence to believe that [Jennings] died at the hands of Kiara McCulley,” Marlowe Sommer said.

The district attorney’s office originally sought to charge McCulley with one count each of first degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with evidence. Marlowe Sommer ruled that there was also enough evidence presented on Monday to move forward with the conspiracy charge, but not enough for evidence tampering.

Walquist argued that testimony from McCulley’s mother that McCulley took a shower just before police arrived on Oct. 29 was enough to show she was trying to dispose of evidence because she was “presumably covered in blood.” The judge didn’t buy it. She noted Walquist’s use of the word “presumably” and said there was not enough evidence to show McCulley was attempting to hide anything by taking a shower.

“Certainly you’re going to have to presume, because nobody was there in the room but [McCulley’s mother],” Marlowe Sommer said.

Marlowe Sommer cited messages between McCulley and her boyfriend at the time as the basis for her ruling on the conspiracy charge.

Isaac Apodaca, who’s accused of coercing McCulley to kill Jennings, is facing one charge of conspiracy to commit murder as well as one accessory to murder charge. Marlowe Sommer in a hearing last month ruled there was enough evidence to move forward to trial against Apodaca.

Walquist argued during Apodaca’s preliminary hearing that those same messages showed Apodaca pressured McCulley to kill Jennings when McCulley started to have second thoughts. During Monday’s hearing, McCulley’s lawyer, Tom Clark, used the messages to argue there was not enough evidence to tie McCulley to the homicide but that there was enough to implicate Apodaca. Countering that narrative, Walquist argued the messages show instances in which Apodaca may have been trying to find alternatives to killing Jennings, but that McCulley was seeking motivation to go through with it.

“[McCulley] wants [Apodaca] to give [McCulley] reasons to use that sword and kill [Jennings],” Walquist said.

According to police reports, McCulley told investigators she has an undiagnosed multiple personality disorder. In November, she was found not competent to stand trial and the court ordered her transferred to the New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute in Las Vegas. In January, Marlowe Sommer found her competent and the case began moving forward again.

Police initially claimed McCulley and Apodaca were part of an underground vigilante group known as Ghost.

Clark capitalized on McCulley’s and Apodaca’s mental states and their initial claims to investigators that they were part of such a group, calling the messages in question “grim,” “dark,” “unhinged” and “absolutely nuts.” But, according to Clark, they don’t show McCulley killed Jennings.

Apodaca’s case is scheduled for jury selection in August. Apodaca and McCulley are being held at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center without bond.