This triple homicide in El Rancho, NM, is not well-known by many people in New Mexico. Yet it is one of the worst crimes I have ever heard about. A psychopathic sixteen-year-old named Nicholas Ortiz killed three members of his friend’s family with a pickaxe on June 19, 2011. His motive? Apparently, robbery.
Cherie Ortiz-Rios felt bad for her son’s friend, sixteen-year-old Nicholas Ortiz, who was of no relation to her family. She invited him to live with her for several months. But Nicholas was ungrateful for the help and stole from the family. When Cherie found out, she kicked him out, sending him back to his home. She didn’t see him again – until after he murdered her family.
Ashley Mae Roybal was down when her cousin, Jose Roybal, asked her to give him and Nicholas Ortiz a lift to the home of Dixie and Lloyd Ortiz on Father’s Day. Dixie and Lloyd were Cherie’s parents. They lived with Cherie’s disabled twenty-one-year-old brother, Steven Ortiz. Ashley Roybal knew the boys planned to rob the home but she claims that she didn’t know the murderous intent in Nicholas’s heart. She dropped the two troubled boys off and drove home.
After 30 minutes, Nicholas called her for a ride back. She arrived at the Ortiz home and Nicholas jumped into her car with blood on his shirt, socks on his hands, and trash bags tied over his feet. He told her the blood was from killing the family with a pickaxe.
Cherie Ortiz-Rios lived next door to her family. She went over to see them and found the bodies of her parents and her brother scattered around the house. In horror, she ran back to her house and frantically called 911. Officers arrived to find Dixie Ortiz in her bedroom with head trauma; Steven Ortiz lay in the kitchen with shoulder and head trauma; and Lloyd Ortiz lay in the backyard with head and torso trauma. The trauma was found to have been inflicted by a pickaxe.
It was one of the worst crime scenes officers had ever seen.
The pickaxe was located in a field near the house. It had been discarded by the killer and had no DNA on it. But when Ashley Mae Roybal reported what had transpired, and how Nicholas Ortiz had emerged from the house with socks over his hands, investigators knew they had their killer.
Officers immediately brought Nicholas in for questioning. He denied any involvement in the killings and cut the interview short. Then they brought in Jose Roybal, his accomplice in the burglary. Jose Roybal said that Nicholas asked him to go into the house and help him kill the family. Jose Roybal panicked and ran to the river while Nicholas entered the house alone. Later, when he saw Nicholas again, he said Nicholas was pale and jittery and confessed to killing the three Ortiz family members.
Investigators also noticed that phone records matched Ashley and Jose’s stories. Texting activity between the three people peaked at the time the Ortiz family was murdered.
In 2015, Nicholas was arrested on five different charges by the NM State Police. He pointed at the arrest warrant and said that he didn’t agree with two charges – the only charges not related to murder. This was considered a confession by his arresting officer.
Four months later, he stood trial. Jose and Ashley Roybal both testified against him. But Nicholas hung the jury when he testified that Ashley Roybal had instructed him to kill the family and had even given him the murder weapon and the socks to prevent fingerprints and trashbags to prevent footprints. A mistrial was declared.
A year later, Nicholas was tried again. This time, he was indicted on third-degree murder and tampering with evidence. He got 25 years for one of the most gruesome triple murders in New Mexico history. Technically he was given 25 years for each murder, but the judge is letting him serve that time concurrently, and he is also eligible for parole after only 20 years. Meanwhile, Ashley Roybal got twenty years for conspiracy to commit burglary and tampering with evidence. Jose Roybal was granted immunity due to his cooperation and assistance in the investigation.
I still have questions about why he did this and how involved Ashley Mae Roybal and Jose Roybal were in the triple homicide. Robbery just doesn’t make sense as a motive when he killed three people with a pickaxe and he told Jose Roybal he planned to kill them before even entering their residence. It appears that the triple homicide was his sole motive for going to the Ortiz house that day. And why would Ashley Roybal tell him to kill them? Was he lying about that?
I think Nicholas did this to get back at Cherie Ortiz-Rios in the most heinous way possible. It is so sad that this family showed him kindness only to be repaid with robbery and murder. I am sure that Cherie is absolutely heartbroken and she may blame herself for bringing Nicholas into the fold. She seemed to have been acting out of the goodness of her heart, though, and she is not to blame. Her parents and brother did not deserve to die this way, for no reason at all.
When something heinous like this happens, it makes me look at everyone I know. “Could they be capable of this?” We never know what goes on inside the privacy of someone’s mind.
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