FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 5, 2017
Contact: James Hallinan (505) 660-2216
Bernalillo, NM – This afternoon, Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that Mark Romero, who brutally murdered Francisco Landovazo in July 2011, will remain in prison after the New Mexico Supreme Court agreed with the Office of the Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Division. Using a gun, Romero and another man forced him into the trunk of a car, drove him to in El Llanito, beat him with a baseball bat, hogtied him and choked him until he died.
“We are working to keep New Mexico’s most violent, dangerous criminals out of our communities and behind bars,” Attorney General Hector Balderas said. “My condolences are with the family of the victim and the entire community of Bernalillo, but I hope they can take some solace in the fact that Mark Romero will remain in prison for his heinous crimes.”
The 13th Judicial District Attorney’s Office successfully prosecuted Romero, but he later appealed his conviction claiming there was insufficient evidence to convict him and that the trial court abused its discretion during the examination of a witness. The Office of the Attorney General argued against the defendant’s appeal and the Supreme Court affirmed his convictions.
Please see attached for a photo of Romero and a copy of the Supreme Court decision.
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