Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 122, No. 139 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
BULGER’S BOSTON HAS CHANGED BOSTON (AP) — As reputed gangster James “Whitey” Bulger goes on trial, his former stomping grounds in South Boston are sure to be the backdrop for much of the testimony. The once blue-collar, IrishCatholic stronghold is ...
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TOP 5
WEB For The Past 24 Hours
• Fiddle and Griddle fires up Main Street • Domestic violence cases often unreported • Dogs need proper care as temperatures... • Police Blotter: 81-yearold seeks help after... • Man found shot
INSIDE SPORTS
TEBOW TO BECOME PATRIOT?
A person familiar with the situation says quarterback Tim Tebow will be signing with the New England Patriots and joining their minicamp today. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S • • • • • •
OBITUARIES
Raymond Analla Sr. Ralph David Analla William Smith Barbara Jean LaRue Clifford Wilson McKee Julia Bapp Rhodes - PAGE A6
HIGH...101˚ LOW ....68˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........A8 LOTTERIES ............A2 NATION .................A6 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
June 11, 2013
TUESDAY
www.rdrnews.com
Former NM officer stands trial in wife’s killing
BERNALILLO (AP) — Former Albuquerque police officer Levi Chavez tried to commit the perfect murder when he shot his wife in 2007 with his departmentissued handgun and made it look like suicide, prosecutors said Monday. “What is the perfect murder?” prosecutor Bryan McKay asked during opening statements in Chavez’s trial. “It’s one in which people are convinced it’s not a murder.” Chavez is accused of killing his 26-year-old wife in the couple’s home in Los Lunas, about 25 miles south of Albuquerque. He
is charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. Tera Chavez died from a single gunshot wound to the mouth. Jurors on Monday saw crime scene photos, including one that showed the woman slumped in bed, the handgun that was found next to her and one of her husband’s police uniforms in the bedroom armoire. Defense attorney David Serna disputed the prosecution’s claims, challenging the credibility of their witnesses and the investigation done by the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office. He
Bersane, Miller to face more charges JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Roswell Police Department received another arrest warrant for Frederick Bersane, 33, on additional charges of robbery, along with one count of false imprisonment. Bersane was featured as Roswell’s Most Wanted on May 29. He was picked up the following day as a result of the tip. Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Bersane and apprehended him around 6 p.m. in the 300 block of West Summit St.
Frederick Bersane
Originally, Bersane was wanted for possession of a controlled substance, but RPD added charges of armed robbery, for an incident that occurred on May 27. According to the affidavit of criminal complaint for the ar med robbery charges, Bersane was involved in two gas skips that same day. The thefts were associated with a particular vehicle which was later pulled over for a traffic stop. Bersane sat behind the wheel. He had two passengers inside the vehicle. One suffered from a seizure and had to be taken to the hospital. During the two gas skips, a credit card was used and rejected. Officers traced the card to its source finding it belonged to a Texas man who told officials he was staying with a friend. The court record for the first offense states Bersane returned to the residence after the stop and demanded money from the visitor. Bersane allegedly placed his hand on a gun, which he had tucked in his waistband. The victim said he put his hands in the air and let Bersane take his wallet. Police presented the victim with two photo arrays where Bersane was positively identified. The second robbery charge against Bersane stems from the separate incident that took place
See CHARGES, Page A3
also said the autopsy evidence was consistent with suicide. “The truth is Levi Chavez is innocent,” Ser na told jurors. But prosecutors said Levi Chavez, 32, had the motive and opportunity to commit the crime. Chavez and his estranged wife both were having extramarital affairs, prosecutors said. And they were arguing about divorce and Tera Chavez’s discovery that her husband had allegedly staged the theft of their truck for insurance money. Levi Chavez was never charged in the theft.
“It all comes together on that weekend when the defendant comes home and puts the gun he has with him in Tera’s mouth and pulls the trigger,” McKay said. Ser na argued Tera Chavez was having a difficult time with the troubled marriage and had left dozens of voice and text messages on her husband’s phone in the days leading up to her death. Prosecutors questioned why Levi Chavez had deleted all the messages except for one in which his wife said she was sad and afraid that she might hurt herself.
They also pointed to Tera Chavez’s journal, in which she said in the last entries that she had tur ned the corner and was ready to move on with her life. Ser na told jurors they would get to hear the 911 call Levi Chavez made after the October 2007 shooting. “It is very difficult to listen to,” Serna said. “But it is the sound of a man who is in anguish.” Chavez sat quietly in the courtroom and wiped his eyes as Serna recalled that night for jurors. The trial is expected to See TRIAL, Page A3
AP Photo
US spy programs raise ire both at home and abroad This photo provided by The Guardian Newspaper in London shows Edward Snowden, who worked as a contract employee at the National Security Agency, on Sunday, in Hong Kong.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration faced fresh anger Monday at home and abroad over U.S. spy programs that track phone and Internet messages around the world in the hope of thwarting terrorist threats. But a senior intelligence official said there are no plans to end the secretive surveillance systems. The programs causing the global uproar were revealed by Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old employee of government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden, whose identity was revealed at his own request, has fled to Hong Kong in hopes of escaping criminal charges. Sen.
Dianne Feinstein of California, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee and supports the surveillance, accused Snowden of committing an “act of treason” and said he should be prosecuted. Coolly but firmly, officials in Germany and the European Union issued complaints over two National Security Agency programs that target suspicious foreign messages — potentially including phone numbers, email, images, video and other online communications transmitted through U.S. providers. The chief British diplomat felt it necessary to try to assure Parliament that the spy programs do not encroach
on U.K. privacy laws. And in Washington, members of Congress said they would take a new look at potential ways to keep the U.S. safe from terror attacks without giving up privacy protections that critics charge are at risk with the government’s current authority to broadly sweep up personal communications. “There’s very little trust in the gover nment, and that’s for good reason,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who sits on the House Intelligence Committee. “We’re our own worst enemy.”
Firefighters block northern wildfire NM lottery provides Abery Miller
JEMEZ SPRINGS (AP) — Firefighters battling a 32square-mile wildfire in northern New Mexico have stopped its progress on its most active flank, allowing a closed highway to be reopened Monday. However, a highway in southwestern New Mexico remains closed because of another wildfire that prompted the mandatory
but precautionary evacuation of the community of Kingston. The lightning-caused Silver Fire hasn’t reached the town, but officials said the flames have charred more than 2 square miles. Crews continued protecting structures in the town, and Gov. Susana Martinez was expected to attend a public meeting Monday
evening in neighboring Hillsboro where an evacuation center has been set up.
Fire management team spokesman Dave Boyd said the area last bur ned in 1925. That means there’s plenty of fuel, mainly dead pine trees killed by beetles. See BLAZE, Page A3
See NSA, Page A3
$529M for education
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — The New Mexico Lottery says it has provided more than a half billion dollars for education since starting in 1996.
The lottery’s latest annual report says it generated about $462 million from 1996 through the 2012 fiscal year for a program that pays for college tuition of New Mexico students.
Korea talks raise hopes; history may scuttle them SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The two Koreas will hold their highest-level talks in years Wednesday in an effort to restore scrapped joint economic projects and ease animosity marked by recent threats of nuclear war. That in itself is progress, though there are already hints that disputes in their bloody history could thwart efforts to better ties. Still, just setting up the two-day meeting in Seoul, through a 17hour negotiating session that ended early Monday, required the kind of diplomatic resolve that has
long been absent in inter-Korean relations, and analysts say it could be a tentative new start. It’s also a political and diplomatic victory for new South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who expressed her country’s interest in talks and rebuilding trust even as she batted back North Korean war rhetoric with vows to hit back strongly if attacked. “It’s very significant that they’re sitting down and talking at all ...
See KOREAS, Page A3
See LOTTERY, Page A3
AP Photo
South Korea's Unification Policy Officer Chun Hae-sung, left, talks with the head of North Korea's delegation Kim Song Hye, right, during their meeting in South Korea, Monday.