West Mesa Media Thread **Non-Discussion Thread**

[bessie]

Post links to media articles relevant to the West Mesa serial killings in this thread. Don't forget to observe the copyright rule, and limit your snips to about 10% of the content.

Also, make sure to include an appropriate link (MSM, generally) that still works. If you need help finding a working link (they tend to change over time), shoot me a pm. I'm usually pretty good at digging them up.

 

[wfgodot]

Joplin Globe; details the Ron Erwin link, at length.

Joplin man says he has been cleared of suspicion in serial murders

 

[Kimbreeley]

http://www.koat.com/news/police-give-update-on-west-mesa-murders-investigation/31062142

[h=1]Police give update on West Mesa Murders investigation[/h]ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —It's been six years since a person walking a dog in southwest Albuquerque found a bone, which led to the discovery of the bodies of nearly a dozen women buried beneath the West Mesa.
Tixier said one APD detective works full time on the case, and police continue to receive a steady stream of calls with tips on the killer's identity.


Wow, one whole detective works on the case.....nice :gaah:

 

[Kimbreeley]

http://www.abqjournal.com/534884/news/families-wait-for-a-place-to-remember.html

[h=1]West Mesa murders: ‘We want to feel less forgotten’[/h]
Albuquerque Police Department Detective Ida Lopez, who served as a glue for many of the families, retired and left the case over the summer. Detective Mark Manary, a 15-year veteran of the department, applied for the spot and has taken over the case.

 

[Kimbreeley]

http://krqe.com/2015/02/02/still-no-arrests-6-years-after-west-mesa-murders-discovery/

[h=1]Still no arrests 6 years after West Mesa murders discovery[/h]
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – It was six years ago today that Albuquerque realized it had a serial killer. The bones of eleven women were found buried on the city’s west mesa. But are Albuquerque Police any closer to figuring out who’s behind the murders?
APD won’t call the “West Mesa Murders a cold case, but they still won’t name any suspects in fact, the department has a bigger pool of people they’re looking at than ever before.

 

[Kimbreeley]

http://krqe.com/2015/06/08/accused-...r-suspect-sentenced-to-36-years-in-rape-case/

[h=1]Accused serial rapist, West Mesa murder suspect sentenced to 36 years in rape case[/h]
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – A man who raped a young girl 26-years ago is going to prison.
A district court judge sentenced 58-year-old Joseph Blea Monday to 36 years after a jury convicted him last week.
Police say the victim was an eighth grader when she was attacked by a masked man in her home after school. Her rape kit was not tested until 2010 which led investigators to Blea.

 

[Kimbreeley]

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/40611288/ns/dateline_nbc/t/missing-women-west-mesa/

Videos about the women of the West Mesa.

 

[Kimbreeley]

https://www.cabq.gov/mayor/news/mayor-increases-reward-for-west-mesa-mystery

[h=1]Mayor increases Reward for West Mesa Murder Case[/h]
Mayor Richard J. Berry designates an extra $35,000 toward a reward for information leading to the arrest in the West Mesa murder case.

 

[Kimbreeley]

https://www.cabq.gov/police/contact-the-police/west-mesa-homicide-investigation

[h=1]West Mesa Homicide Investigation[/h]
West Mesa Serial Killer--$100,000 Reward

[h=2]

[/h]

 

[Kimbreeley]

http://kunm.org/post/west-mesa-murders-case-changes-behavior-police-prostitutes#stream/0

[h=1]West Mesa Murders Case Changes Behavior Of Police, Prostitutes[/h]
Advocates of safe sex work say prostitutes are also changing the way they work in order to stay safe, but they are still fearful that they may become victims of the same serial killer who buried the West Mesa victims in shallow graves.

 

[Kimbreeley]

Not sure if this is considered MSM, if not mods please remove link.

https://www.liberationnews.org/untested-rape-kits-linked-to-west-mesa-murders/

[h=1]Untested rape kits linked to West Mesa Murders[/h]
The West Mesa women’s deaths were never fully investigated. The case is
open to the present day despite a mountain of evidence including DNA found
on one of the women’s pants pointing to one of two prime suspects. The suspect, Joseph Blea, has a long documented criminal history of sexual violence dating back to the 1970’s. Blea is still under investigation in connection to the murder of the West Mesa Women and Albuquerque Police Department is quoted as “Not having enough evidence to convict him.”

 

[Kimbreeley]

http://www.fourstateshomepage.com/news/erwin-cleared-in-west-mesa-murders

[h=1]Erwin Cleared in West Mesa Murders[/h]
Joplin, MO- Ron Erwin, Joplin, is no longer considered a suspect in a string of New Mexico murders.
A spokes person for the Albuquerque Police Department says Erwin has "been eliminated as a viable suspect" in the West Mesa murders.

 

[Kimbreeley]

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_...-albuquerques-crime-century?source=JBarTicker

[h=1]Families offer clues in Albuquerque's "crime of the century"[/h]
ALBUQUERQUE - Five years have passed since the bodies of 11 young women were found buried in shallow graves in the city's West Mesa area, and police are no closer today to solving Albuquerque's "crime of the century." The victims were reported missing in 2003 and 2004, and their families claim the police did little to find them. This week, the police department convened a hastily called meeting with the families on Jan. 26 to discuss the status of the investigation.

 

[Kimbreeley]

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_...earch-www.elpasotimes.com-www.elpasotimes.com

[h=1]Feb. 15 2014: Families of victims received tips about possible killers[/h]
Diana Wilhelm, Gina Cinnamon Elk's mother, "stated that she has received several phone calls from unknown individuals claiming that cinnamon was murdered," according to a police report dated Feb. 9, 2005. "Diana stated that one of the callers also stated that (Cinnamon) had been beheaded."
"Art Johnson also stated that he had "heard" that (Cinnamon had been murdered and beheaded)," the police report with the same date said. A handwritten entry in the report stated "pending further leads."

Wilhelm said she got a call from 15-year-old Jamie Barela before the West Mesa graveyard was discovered.
"Jamie was the last of the West Mesa victims to be identified," Wilhelm said. "She called me in a rush one time, and told me that Cinnamon had been murdered. I gave the information to the police, but they never got back to me."

 

[Kimbreeley]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/us/24prostitute.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[h=1]Bodies Found but Mystery Lingers for Kin of Missing Women[/h]
ALBUQUERQUE — The last time anyone saw Michelle Valdez, she was working the streets of the War Zone, a neighborhood of housing projects, heroin and sex shops near the University of New Mexico.

 

[CriminalMinds]

Not sure if this is considered MSM, if not mods please remove link.

https://www.liberationnews.org/untested-rape-kits-linked-to-west-mesa-murders/

[h=1]Untested rape kits linked to West Mesa Murders[/h]
The West Mesa women’s deaths were never fully investigated. The case is
open to the present day despite a mountain of evidence including DNA found
on one of the women’s pants pointing to one of two prime suspects. The suspect, Joseph Blea, has a long documented criminal history of sexual violence dating back to the 1970’s. Blea is still under investigation in connection to the murder of the West Mesa Women and Albuquerque Police Department is quoted as “Not having enough evidence to convict him.”

the DNA they are referring to is Blea’s DNA that was taken after his arrest, matching DNA discovered on the pants of a young prostitute whose body had been dumped off East Central in the 1980s

 

[Kimbreeley]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/02/1...covered-albuquerque-killings-remain-unsolved/

[h=1]Five years after mass grave discovered, Albuquerque killings remain unsolved[/h]
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The haunting images of 11 women stare back from the City of Albuquerque website as if to remind the world that five years after their bodies turned up in a mass grave on the outskirts of town, a killer likely remains on the loose.

 

[Kimbreeley]

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_17010291

Serial killer Scott Kimball says police questioned him about N.M. murders




Scott Kimball



Detectives from the Albuquerque Police Department may have paid a visit to FBI informant-turned-serial killer Scott Lee Kimball last week in connection to their investigation into the remains of 11 women and a fetus found near the city in 2009, a New Mexico television station is reporting.

The Lafayette native acknowledged to Coet in his letter last week that he used to pass through Albuquerque while making deliveries of beef to customers in Arizona and California, but he insisted that he was not to blame for the women's deaths.

 

[Kimbreeley]

http://www.koat.com/news/possible-lead-uncovered-in-west-mesa-murders/27098896

[h=1]Possible lead uncovered in West Mesa murders[/h]
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —Albuquerque police are not ruling out a man recently arrested in a kidnapping cold case as a possible lead in one of the city's biggest unsolved cases.


Police said they will investigate Mark Chavez and check for any leads in the West Mesa murders, in which 11 bodies have been found.

 

[vegasdee]

According to this article in the ABQ journal, Blea owned a landscaping company, and he bought the plants from a nursery in Vacaville, CA.
http://www.abqjournal.com/597107/news/is-joseph-blea-tied-to-west-mesa-killings.html

After re-reading the article, it seems that the wholesale nursery in Vacaville supplied the plant in question, 5 gallon spearmint juniper, to a retail store in Albuquerque where Blea bought plants/trees for his landscaping company.