Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • Page 10

A10 ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL Wednesday, April 24, 1991 urder Charges Dropped Police Failed To Follow Up Leads on 'Vietnamese Mafia' Against Arquette Suspects By Mike Gallagher JOURNAL STAFF WRITER CONTINUED FROM PAGE A1 dollar insurance scam in the Vietnamese community in Southern California. Assistant District Attorney Susan Riedel filed dismissal notices on Garcia and Juvenal Jose Escobedo, 22, on grounds the evidence "at this time, is insufficient to prove this matter beyond a reasonable doubt." State District Judge W.C. "Woody" Smith earlier canceled an April 30 trial setting ment. A still-unexplained deposit ot $2,000 showed up in Arquette's bank account after the accident. There were other possible leads.

In February 1990, the Attorney General's Office received a postcard that read "Did it ever occur to you that Kait Arquette was murdered as a result of a 'hit' ordered by the Vietnamese mafia? APD refuses to do anything." When Nguyen first was contacted by police the night Arquette was shot, officers confiscated a note Nguyen told them Arquette had written the night before. The note read: "Hon where are you? I know you're still mad I'm so sorry. O.K.! I miss you today. I went to mom's house to return these books. I'll see ya.

Love." Several people familiar with Arquette's handwriting have told defense attorneys and prosecutors the note wasn't in her handwriting and that they doubt she wrote it. Arquette's friends also were disturbed about several calls made from her apartment to Southern California the night she died. According to police reports, Nguyen told police he was at the apartment when the calls were made by friends of his. Other witnesses placed Nguyen at the hospital and at Arquette's parents' home when the calls were made. In a February 1990 interview with police, Nguyen denied Arquette had told him to move out of her Southeast Heights apartment.

Several other witnesses told police she had. case against Miguel (Garcia) would improve as time went on," Davis said. "They never had a good case against Miguel, but it actually got worse as time went on." Riedel first charged Garcia and Escobedo on Jan. 24, 1990, but dropped the charges five days later for lack of evidence and further investigation. Prosecutors would not say after the indictment if new evidence had become available.

Garcia, Escobedo and another man became suspects after Robert Garcia, then 16 and no relation to Miguel, told police he was with them in the car when Miguel Garcia shot at Arquette on a dare. It was later revealed, however, that Robert Garcia was in the Youth Diagnostic and Development Center that night. "I think the prosecutors are saving the detectives some embarrassment from having to own up to serious mistakes in a trial," Riggs said. "The interview of Robert Garcia was a classic in the annals of police misconduct," he said. APD officials have said any comment would have to come from prosecutors.

father, Donald, said the family knows only that the District Attorney's Office dropped the charges and turned the case back to police for further investigation. "We don't know any more than that except they are apparently the case open and that's good news," he said. Garcia insisted from the time he was arrested that he was innocent. He still faces an unrelated charge of commercial burglary. His attorney, Michael Davis, said he wasn't sure what would happen to that charge.

"He's already spent 15 months in jail, which is about what he would serve if he was convicted and sent to prison," Davis said. The District Attorney's Office was facing a deadline of May 1 to bring both the murder case and the burglary case to trial, and Garcia's attorneys refused to agree to extend the time limitations. Both attorneys, Joseph Riggs and Davis, were pleased with the DA's decision. "They could have taken the easy way and taken a poor case to trial," Davis said. "Instead they took the initiative and dismissed the Albuquerque police reports indicate detectives had leads about a "Vietnamese Mafia" connection in Kaitlyn Arquette's murder, but detectives apparently shied away from following up on them.

Shortly after her death in July 1989, several witnesses told homicide detectives that Arquette had told them about her involvement in an automobile insurance rip-off during a trip to California earlier in the year. Her credit card was used to rent a car that her boyfriend, Dung Ngoc Nguyen, was driving at the time of an accident in California. Nguyen initially admitted he had been in a car accident in California during the trip, but told police it wasn't staged for insurance purposes. Almost a year after the killing, Nguyen was reinterviewed by detectives. At that time, according to police reports, he admitted the California accident had been staged for purposes of insurance fraud.

During an interview conducted earlier this year by Miguel Garcia's attorneys, Nguyen said as many as 10 to 20 Vietnamese men living in Albuquerque had participated in staged accidents in Southern California. Members of the group would rent cars, then intentionally get into accidents with other members. They would file claims with the rental car's insurance company and split the, insurance pay Escobedo has been a fugitive since late February 1990, when he was released on probation in an unrelated case. He was released shortly before he and Garcia were in i I LJ dicted Feb. 27, Arquette 1990, on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy and other crimes in Arquette's slaying.

Arquette, a University of New Mexico student, was shot twice in the head about 10:50 p.m. July 16, 1989, as she drove her car east on Lomas NE just west of Broadway. She died later in a hospital Schwartz said he dropped the charges because "there has been some erosion in (the state's case) since the indictment and then there seemed to be this other angle while the state's case was dwindling." He said the new angle was "the emergence of these other facts regarding her association with this group of Vietnamese. She had a clear association with that group." Schwartz said the two developments "led us to a pretty firm conclusion that this case needed another look." He said he informed police homicide Sgt. Ruth Lowe Tuesday that he was dropping the charges and that Lowe said "they would be very interested in looking at (the new angle)." Schwartz emphasized, however, this won't prevent police from looking at other possibilities.

He also said police initially did some investigation into the Vietnamese angle "but the predominant focus had been on Miguel Garcia and Juvenal Escobedo." Prosecutors could refile charges against both men based on results of the new investigation. Schwartz also confirmed that prosecutors met Tuesday morning with Arquette's family. Arquette's charges." Riggs said, "I think the prosecutors Charlie Brown and Susan Reidel kept an open mind on the case. As we investigated the case we were able to show them that the police had done a poor investigation." Davis said, "As a citizen of Albuquerque, I'm appalled at the murder of Kaitlyn Arquette and I hope it will be solved but I am also elated that an innocent young man has been freed." Davis said the attorneys attacked two areas of the case in discussions with prosecutors; the investigation that led to Garcia as a suspect and the failure to investigate Arquette's boyfriend. Garcia's attorneys said there was little evidence against Garcia that could have withstood examination in court and that prosecution witnesses were inconsistent in their statements.

Riggs said private investigators Dennis and Tanya Hicks were able to provide new evidence indicating detectives failed to investigate other avenues. "Our investigators found that Kaitlyn Arquette's boyfriend Dung Nguyen actually fabricated a love note and told police she wrote it," Riggs said. "We also developed evidence that he was involved in an insurance scam and had involved Kaitlyn Arquette in it." "I think the prosecutors hoped the ll mm I I I I ir.i' ONE V00K OMLYJ "HERITAGE" RECLINA-ROCKER sleek and streamlined channel-stitched back, transitional style. Padded pull-over arms. "SEVILLE" STATIONARY OCCASIONAL CHAIR pillow headrest back, wide T-cushion seat, welt detailing, kick-pleated skirt.

Iff only on chair It noodod, prkei will be cut In HALF. Knowlodgtablo and friendly talcs staff Judge: Cocaine Hauling Wrong Rx for Sick Leave 2 im FOR Fnw jl -4 I '4? was within personnel authority. "In fact, it would be a silly' interpretation of the personnel rules to require the city of Gallup to maintain an employee on full-pay status pending the resolution of very serious criminal charges against him, especially when the charges arose from criminal behavior which was conducted on city time," Eastbum wrote. Estrada's attorney, Robert Ara-gon, was not available for comment Tuesday. "I have never seen a case like this in the last five years or so that I have been a contract attorney for Risk Management," Walz said.

"But people bring all kinds of claims." CONTINUED FROM PAGE A1 cause, and the case was dismissed. But Eastburn said that was immaterial to Estrada's civil suit. "This is a civil case, so we could use that (cocaine) evidence," said attorney Jerry Walz, who represented the city of Gallup for the state Risk Management Division. "The issue was whether he was properly using city sick leave. And it was incontrovertible that he was not," he said.

"We were prepared to go to trial if we had to. But based on the outrageous facts of this case, I was confident that the judge would grant a summary judgment," said Walz, who was directed by Eastburn to write an order dismissing the case. In his suit Estrada disputed the city's authority to suspend him between January and October 1989, when he was formally fired. But Eastburn said the city suspension "TRIUMPH" RECLINA-ROCKER diamond-tufted back, padded roll arms, clean, uncluttered. "FORTE" RECLINA ROCKER OR WALL RECLINER wide padded arms, soft pillow back.

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