LAS CRUCES, N.M. — A New Mexico man has not only been charged with murder, but the barbaric act of decapitating the victim and then using his head like a soccer ball in a public park, according to reports.
On Sunday night, Las Cruces Police Department received a call about a body found near Apodaca Park. Responding officers discovered the body and also located Joel Arciniega-Saenz nearby, covered in blood, with a bloody knife protruding from the ground near him. He was taken into custody on suspicion of murder, KVIA reported.
Late Monday afternoon LCPD identified the victim 51-year-old James Garcia. They said “multiple sharp force injuries” from a stabbing attack led to his death.
According to court documents obtained by KTSM, Garcia’s body was discovered by police roughly 10 yards away from his head.
Aside from the decapitation, police say the victim’s body had been further mutilated; he was littered with stab wounds and the middle finger on his right hand had also been removed.
According to KTSM, per court documents, “Arciniega-Saenz told investigators that he is homeless and sleeps at Apodaca Park. … (Defendant) said that Garcia raped his wife four years ago, however, he did not identify his wife. He said that the three of them were hanging out together four days prior to the murder and on Sunday, he and his wife fell asleep. When he awoke, Garcia was gone, along with all of their stuff. Arciniega-Saenz told investigators that he went to Apodaca Park to confront Garcia.”
The morbid tale continues:
“Arciniega-Saenz alleged that he took a switchblade knife from Garcia and stabbed him several times before decapitating him. He then dragged Garcia’s body into the street and ‘then played soccer with his head.’ He said he kicked the victim’s head at 14 different cars,” KTSM reported.
Arciniega-Saenz has subsequently been charged with murder. He is being held without bail at the Doña Ana County Detention Center,
This is not the first time Arciniega-Saenz has been taken into custody for murder.
LCPD officers arrested him in 2017 in connection to the murder of Benjamin Montoya, 21, at a Las Cruces motel. Charges were later dismissed.
According to Law&Crime, Arciniega-Saenz was originally the lead suspect in the 2017 shooting of Montoya. Arciniega-Saenz got into a fight with Montoya at a hotel in Las Cruces, leading to the fatal shooting. The murder weapon was never found, however, and prosecutors dropped charges in 2018.
“I just got angry,” Montoya’s sister, Krystal Montoya, told KFOX14 after learning about the recent charges against the man she still believes killed her brother. “I stared at my phone and at the floor and got angry.”
