First, lets take a little look at the background:
Tera Chavez was found dead in her Los Lunas home, with a bullet wound to the head, in October of 2007. Her husband's police-issued gun (a Glock 9mm) was found next to her body.
At first sight, it was believed Tera Chavez killed herself with the gun. Initially Valencia County Sheriff's Investigators labeled the death as a suicide.
Weeks later Valencia County Investigators changed the scope of their investigation, labeling it a homicide, and named her husband, APD Officer Levi Chavez as a "person of interest."
Since the day her body was found, Officer Chavez has been on paid leave with APD. No charges have been filed. The investigation into Tera Chavez's death remains "open and active" according to the lead VCSO detective on the case.
The case hasn't gone anywhere since then, or at least those of us in the media haven't heard of anything new.
And then today a big bombshell: An attorney representing the estate of Tera Chavez (Brad Hall) files a 40 page lawsuit that is thick with shocking allegations against Officer Chavez. Nine other APD officers are also named as defendants. The officers are accused of meddling with evidence at the Tera Chavez crime scene the night her body was found (which was in Los Lunas, out of APD's jurisdiction).
Here are the big allegations ACCORDING to the lawsuit:
*Officer Chavez's changed his wife's life insurance policy to include a suicide pay-out clause months before her death. The policy became active, according to the suit, 17 days before her death. Chavez filed a claim on the policy for 100-thousand dollars just last month according to the suit. The suit claims Chavez also bought a Cadillac at Car Max in Albuquerque nine days after Tera Chavez's death. The lawsuit doesn't make it clear of Chavez received the 100-thousand dollar payment.
*The suit claims Officer Chavez wanted to get rid of his new truck, in which he was "upside down" on the payments. He, according to the lawsuit, wanted to make the truck "disappear" so he could file a false insurance claim. The lawsuit alleges Tera Chavez didn't want any part of this, and actually may have tried contacting State Insurance Fraud investigators about this through a state tip-line. If this is true, Tera Chavez, was in the process of getting her husband into a lot of trouble with authorities.
*The suit says aside from the truck payments, Officer Chavez's finances were a mess. He was sued by the Rio Rancho Police department for not fulfilling his contractual obligations to the department. He was sued for about 14-thousand dollars, according to the suit.
*The suit claims Officer Chavez was never trained as an officer to properly store his department issued weapon. The suit claims APD is liable for not training Chavez properly on the storage of his weapon and that APD doesn't have a written policy up to national standards when it comes to the storage of weapons at officers' homes. Chavez was an officer for only five months at the time of his wife's death, according to the suit.
*The suit claims Chavez had numerous affairs with several other APD officers. The suit claims this unchecked "sexual fraternization" within APD lead to Tera Chavez's stress.
*The suit also claims Tera Chavez engaged in an affair herself with another APD officer.
*The suit also claims nine Albuquerque Police officers, including a lieutenant and two sergeants entered the crime scene and contaminated it by removing evidence. The suit claims they demanded "professional courtesy" from VCSO investigators and entered the crime despite VCSO objections. The suit alleges one of the APD officers "flushed a blood sample down the toilet" and took "bloody bedding" from the home. The suit claims this accusation is supported by VCSO reports and crime scene logs. It's unclear if the officers were on duty or off duty during this alleged breach of the crime scene.
There is so much more to the lawsuit, I don't have time to lay out all the allegations. Again you can read it here in its entirety.
As soon as I received a copy of the filed lawsuit this afternoon, I called APD's spokesperson for comment. I told him the exact nature of the suit, and mentioned the accusations against the nine officers.
I was referred by APD's spokesperson to Deputy City Attorney Kathy Levy who gave me a "no comment" because of "pending litigation." She confirmed she had a copy of the suit.
After I aired my reports at 5pm, 6pm, and 6:30pm, the City decided to provide me with a written statement.
Here is that statement in its entirety:
This case involves the on-going criminal investigation into the death of Tera Chavez. The allegations made against APD are serious and will be fully responded to in a court of law. APD has been in regular contact with the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office regarding the criminal investigation – APD has not, and will not, do anything to adversely impact that investigation. A plaintiff can allege anything in a civil complaint – that does not make the statements true – the plaintiff has to prove her case. The claims made in this case are without merit, are not supported by the facts or the law, and APD is confident a court will agree.
Let me know if you have any questions or comments.
Kathryn Levy
Deputy City Attorney
Attorney Brad Hall, who filed the suit, claims his accusations are all backed up with police records, VCSO reports, crime scene logs, documentation and witness statements.
I have also learned that the State's Insurance Fraud Bureau was about to file a search warrant against APD regarding all of this, but APD decided to provide Bureau investigators with documents/records at the last minute before it was executed.
I suspect given the nature of this lawsuit and it's eyebrow-raising allegations, there may be some fall out.
Also, you can expect this lawsuit will go to trail. The City of Albuquerque no longer settles APD lawsuits out of court anymore and fights them until the end, even at the risk of a huge jury award for a plantiff.
Now on to something else I've gotta mention. Levi Chavez is also the nephew of Sheriff Robert Chavez of Santa Rosa. You'll remember this report I did on Sheriff Chavez last month.
Keep watching.....
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jeremyjojola.com
7 comments:
New Mexico is one of the most corrupt places I have ever heard about. I can absolutely believe this story and it is sad. The national standard for basic firearms instruction is to give a block of instruction on safe storage of handguns when they are not in use. It sounds a little suspicious anyway.
One year paid time off pending investigation? That is your tax dollars hard at work. So many cases fall through the cracks...
Sadly, this isn't the first time APD's dirty cops have killed to keep their illegal activities quiet. Kaitlyn Arquette was murdered in 1989 and her mother, well known author Lois Duncan, has been investigating the matter ever since (APD of course did what they could to cover up their involvement and pushed the story that it was a random drive by). Lois then started a website called Real Crimes where others could share similar stories. It's scary how many there are! Suspicious deaths with APD involved are somehow always labelled "accidents," or "suicides," when they are very clearly murders to keep witnesses silent. This will keep happening. They are very bold about it. I really wish someone would do a follow up on the Kaitlyn Arquette story now that this has happened. The people of Albuquerque should know that this is nothing new. The criminals in blue have been running the city for a very long time.
We all smell something fishy with this. Our gut tells us something just isn't right with this. I am glad there are people like you, that work hard to get the truth out. Keep up the good work!!! You really make a difference...
Anyone seen an update on this? I keep searching news, and nothing...
Hey, Jeremy, were you absent the day they taught proofreading at journalism school? You are actually a journalist, right?
^^Cop
We are focusing on APD which in this case I understand is important, warranted and relevant, but what about Levi Chavez? This leach has been living like a hog off of tax payer money for the past two years - not to mention fraudulently collecting his poor deceased wife's life insurance pay out. We are tightening our belts in this economy - social workers/CPS are being paid ridiculously low wages, good police and firemen in this state are being denied their city contract raises this year and city and state jobs are being frozen. We are dying employment to worthy citizens - and this guys is enjoying a very long, very well-paid vacation on our tab?! Are you kidding me??!!! He has not even been an officer for more than 5 months! Therefore he should be on OJT and a probationary period so APD should be able to at the very least have put him on unpaid leave if not fire him because of his probationary status. And please, we need to look into these other officers who allegedly tampered with the crime scene. Were they illegally smuggling stolen vehicles into Mexio or whatever corruption this guys was into? I propose that if convicted for this VERY SUSPICIOUS crime or if fired due to this incident, Mr. Chavez be forced to reimburse the city for the paid leave. If a cadet joins the academy, but chooses to drop out early, they have to pay back all of their sign on bonus. It should be no different here for a rookie wannabe cop who has only been on the force for 5 months. May this poor woman's soul rest in peace and I wish her family comfort and support.
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