FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 21, 2018
Contact: James Hallinan (505) 660-2216
The Office of the Attorney General prosecuted Dallas Hnulik for the brutal murder of Brandy Capps
Carlsbad, NM – This afternoon, Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that the New Mexico Court of Appeals agreed with the Office of the Attorney General Criminal Appeals Division and affirmed the conviction and sentence of Dallas Hnulik for the 2010 murder of his girlfriend, Brandy Capps. Attorney General Hector Balderas prioritized the case early in his administration and his prosecutors successfully convicted Hnulik of second-degree murder in July of 2015.
“My office will continue to work with local law enforcement across New Mexico to attack violent crime and keep the most dangerous criminals behind bars,” Attorney General Balderas said. “Violence against women and domestic violence will not be tolerated in New Mexico, and I am thankful for hard work of the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office and Pecos Valley Drug Task Force. I am also very proud of the Office of the Attorney General prosecutors for securing this conviction and our Criminal Appeals Division for working to have this hard fought conviction upheld.”
In the summer of 2015, Hnulik was convicted after a Carlsbad jury deliberated for only two hours. In November of that year, Fifth Judicial District Judge Lisa B. Riley sentenced him to 12 years of incarceration for murdering Ms. Capps, who suffered a gunshot wound to the face at a range of approximately four inches.
See attached for a photo of Dallas Hnulik and the Court of Appeals opinion.
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