The Awful Rape and Murder of Arietta Chandler

Marian Arietta Cordell Chandler, who went by Arietta, was known by her friends as a fun-loving person. She would do anything for a fun time. She once bought her friends roller skates just to go out skating for an afternoon. A Santa Fe native, she had a lot of friends, a husband, and many pets. Her heart was big and she adored animals.

Chandler was also known for some bad decisions, including befriending a convicted child molester in prison and being arrested three times for drunk driving. Her brother read a heartfelt letter at her murder trial, in which he shared that Arietta Chandler was not the best at taking care of her own problems and that she tended to abuse herself to the point of emptiness.

She had been married to Frank Chandler for nine years at the time of her death. Whether she and her husband had an open marriage or not, Arietta Chandler decided to party with the four 19-year-old male NMSU students on March 8, 1992. Regardless of her poor decisions, however, she didn’t deserve what those young men did to her later that night.

The last night she was seen alive, on March 8, 1992, she had just turned 34. She was having fun with some friends, drinking at the Bull Ring in Santa Fe. That’s where she met four NMSU students who were originally from Santa Fe and who were visiting home on break: Jeff Gallegos, Rod Hasson, Chris Smyth, and Keith Castellano. Her friends grew bored with the college boys, but Chandler appeared to enjoy the attention they were giving her. She danced and drank with Jeff Gallegos, a former high school football star who was well-liked and generally regarded as a good guy. Then she hopped into a car with him and his three friends around 1:30 am, leaving her friends back at the club.

Around 2 am, she pulled $40 out of an ATM with her debit card. After that, she was never seen again.

Her husband reported her missing the next day. However, there really wasn’t evidence of a crime. Police did not have a murder case until her body was found 3 years later. They suspected the young men, however, especially when a waitress at the Bull Ring came forward and said she had overheard the men talking about gangbanging Arietta.

Police did question all four of the men she had been with at the Bull Ring. All four claimed they had been driving around with Arietta Chandler when she got mad at them and demanded to be let out at a park. They claimed that they let her out at Herb Martinez Park and never saw her again.

Chandler’s husband and all four NMSU students were given lie detector tests. All of them passed – except Rod Hasson, who was recorded giving deceptive answers to questions about causing physical harm to Arietta Chandler and concealing her body. Thus, police believed that perhaps the other young men were telling the truth – they had indeed let Arietta Chandler out of the car at Herb Martinez Park. But they theorized that perhaps Rod Hasson was dropped off, got into his own vehicle, and went after Chandler at the park. They searched his car in Las Cruces for evidence but found nothing. Apparently they did not bother to search the original car that Chandler had been riding in with all four men.

He certainly acted suspiciously, though. When police barricaded a street in Las Cruces to apprehend a double murder suspect (unrelated to the Chandler crime), Hasson became over-involved and kept questioning police about who they were looking for, as if he was worried they were looking for him. He also evaded police for subsequent questioning.

On April 12, 1995, Keith Castellano broke down and confessed. He then led police to a shallow grave near Lamy, where they unearthed Chandler’s skeleton and a piece of jewelry that her husband identified as hers. Dental records confirmed her identity.

Her killers were finally arrested. The police had always thought it was fairly obvious that the four NMSU boys had murdered on March 9, 1992. But without a body, the boys got away with it. Finding the body allowed the case to blow open and the four NMSU students finally had to face what they had done.

It came to light that the four young men took Chandler out to a remote road off Rodeo Road to snort cocaine. Then, for some reason, they unanimously decided to rape Chandler. Chris Smyth hit Chandler first. Jeff Gallegos and Rod Hasson then took turns raping her and all four men took turns beating her savagely with a rock. Chandler pleaded for her life, offered the men money, and said they could have sex with her anytime if they just let her live. But they continued to beat her. Gallegos finally slammed her head in the car trunk before stuffing her limp body into the back of the car.

The four young men then began to discuss alibis they would use to cover up the crime. Chandler was still alive and could hear them plotting. She screamed at them that they were liars. She was still breathing when they took her to a remote area off of US 285, about 15 miles south of Lamy. They covered her with some branches and left like cowards; Rod Hasson claimed they were all secretly hoping she would make it to the road and return home herself. When they came back to the spot the next day, however, they discovered that she had passed away over the early morning hours. They buried her in a shallow grave and returned to school in Las Cruces as if nothing had happened.

Jeff Gallegos was a former football star at Capital High School in Santa Fe. He was a popular kid, with a spotless reputation, and he was a true mama’s boy. He was studying education at NMSU – just the person we want educating our youth, right? He took a plea deal and got 40 years for raping and murdering Arietta Chandler. In his trial, he claimed that he took full responsibility for the crime and did not blame the cocaine or the alcohol he had consumed that night. He tried to elicit sympathy from jurors by crying about how much he thought about dancing with Arietta Chandler the night she died, and how he tried not to think about killing her. His mother consoled him and tried to appeal to the judge for leniency. The judge determined that Gallegos had already received leniency with his plea deal that spared him life or the death sentence.

Rod Hasson was also a Capital High School graduate who was on the football, track, and wrestling teams. In NMSU, he was on the football team but was on the bench most of the time, so he quit and played intramural sports thereafter. He was majoring in criminal justice. His girlfriend of three weeks, Ocean Munds, claimed that he had been set up by his friends. His other friends at NMSU also claimed that he could not have done it, though he had a bad temper and liked to drink and party. He submitted a plea deal too late and was denied, so he went to trial where he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The prosecutors were seeking the death sentence. Ultimately, the jury found him guilty and Judge Steve Herrera sentenced him to 30 years.

Keith Castellano drove the hatchback that had been used in the murder and the transportation of the body. He was given probation for evidence tampering, in exchange for testifying against his buddies. Part of his leniency stemmed from the fact he led police to Chandler’s grave. Having completed probation, his record has now been expunged. I think that was far too lenient for someone who was complicit in this crime for 3 years.

Chris Smyth was serving in the Navy when he was charged. He was only received 3 years for aggravated assault in exchange for testimony against his buddies as well. Since he actively took part in this crime and remained silent about what his friends did to Chandler, I think he deserved a lot more time. It just goes to show how the justice system does nothing for the women of New Mexico.

Verna Cordell, Arietta Chandler’s mother, wept at trial and said she wanted to do to these men what they did to her daughter. Chandler’s husband, Frank, said that the healing could finally begin after three years of heartache. Chandler’s brother wrote a heartfelt, grief-stricken letter about how his sister failed to protect herself. Many other loved ones of Chandler’s expressed outrage at the plea deals, and they felt that justice was not properly served. Many people were hurt by this crime beyond Arietta Chandler, who had to die alone and in agony at the side of Highway 285.

After the details of the case came to light in 1995, people began to call for the Bull Ring to close. They blamed the bar for serving the college boys, who were 19 at the time. They believed this underage drinking led to Arietta Chandler’s horrible death. Fortunately, Santa Feans were outraged by the suggestion that alcohol was responsible for what these young men did. They understood that many people drink without doing bad things; what these men did was on them, not the Bull Ring. Alcohol and cocaine did not excuse their behavior.

Chandler loved animals and shared four Yorkies, two Rottweilers, and a cat with her husband when she died. In lieu of flowers at her funeral, her loved ones asked for symbolic adoptions of shelter animals in Chandler’s name. This women may have done some controversial things, but she was a free spirit who loved life and she did not deserve to have it all taken from her in an act of random sexual violence. Let this story serve as yet another cautionary tale about trusting men – even if they seem friendly and fun, even if they have glowing reputations. Not everyone has your best interests at heart. Charm can disguise a lot of evil.