Honk News (Las Cruces, NM) – A 28-year-old man has been found guilty by a jury in New Mexico for a gruesome crime involving the stabbing of a victim 84 times, followed by decapitation and an unsettling act of kicking the severed head around in a public park, according to prosecutors.
Joel Arciniega-Saenz has been convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the death of 51-year-old James Garcia. On June 20, 2021, a brutal incident took place at Apodaca Park in Las Cruces, situated in southern New Mexico, approximately 45 miles north of El Paso, Texas. The Doña Ana District Attorney’s Office announced in a press release that the case faced delays due to issues regarding Arciniega-Saenz’s competency.
Arciniega-Saenz was without a home and allegedly residing in the park where the tragic incident took place. According to prosecutors, he employed a switchblade during the assault, resulting in the severing of Garcia’s middle finger.
Arciniega-Saenz admitted to the horrific act after being taken into custody as reported.
A probable cause arrest affidavit reveals that Arciniega-Saenz confessed to the murder as an act of revenge for Garcia’s alleged rape of his wife four years prior. The accused informed law enforcement that the trio had been socializing together in the days leading up to the homicide, during which he and his spouse dozed off. According to police reports, Arciniega-Saenz stated that upon waking, he discovered that Garcia had departed, taking all of their possessions with him.
The accused reportedly claimed to have confronted Garcia in the park, seized a switchblade from him, fatally stabbed him, decapitated him, and “then played soccer with his head.” He reportedly confessed to striking the victim’s head in the direction of 14 different cars.
He quickly emerged as a prime suspect in the homicide when responding officers, alerted by reports of a body on the ground, reportedly discovered him with “significant blood stains” on his clothing and noticed “a bloody knife embedded in the ground close to where he was sitting,” as detailed in the affidavit.
The individual accused in the Garcia homicide has previously evaded a murder charge.
Arciniega-Saenz initially emerged as the primary suspect in the 2017 shooting incident involving 21-year-old Benjamin Isaac Montoya. A confrontation at a hotel in Las Cruces reportedly escalated between the accused and Montoya, resulting in the tragic shooting of the victim in the chest. The weapon used in the murder was never located, leading to prosecutors dismissing the charges in 2018. The status of Arciniega-Saenz as a suspect in the case remains uncertain.