October 17, 2024 • 31 mins
In October 2012, Ashley Roybal, 25, was arrested for burglary and stunned investigators by revealing her knowledge of the unsolved 2011 Ortiz family murders. As detectives investigate, they unravel a complex web of new leads and conflicting accounts.
To reach out to the American Homicide team, please email us at AmericanHomicidePod@gmail.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, Ashley, you have the right to remain silent.
If you give up that right, anything you say can
be used against you and court. You have the right
to talk to a lawyer now and have him or her.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
It's October twenty twelve and twenty five year old Ashley
Royball is in custody in New Mexico. She was charged
with burglary and felonie larceny and waved her right to
remain silent. Instead, Ashley told investigators that she had some
information about the unsolved murders of Lloyd Dixie and Stephen Ortiz.
(00:29):
The three were bludgeoned to death by pickaxe on Father's
Day twenty eleven in the tiny town of l Rancho,
New Mexico.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I'm actually the case agent on the jam side of
the ERTs family now Nancho, Okay.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
It had been sixteen months and there had been no
arrest or even major leads.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
In the case.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
The victim's daughter, Shari, was the only person talked about
in town as a potential suspect.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
I understand that you know some details.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I no, I did it. Imagine how surprised detectives were
when Ashley says she knows who killed Lloyd, Dixie and
Stephen Ortiz.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
So why are you telling us?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Because it's not right to see a good people.
Speaker 5 (01:13):
I grew up with Stephen.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
I'm to school with him, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, detectives knew what she meant. Ashley Royball says she
was close with all three and mentioned that when her
own mother died, it was Lloyd and Dixie who helped
pay for her funeral.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I wanted to come and I just couldn't.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
So Ashley Roiball was finally ready to break her silence.
I'm slung glass. And this is the conclusion of the
Father's Day Murders on American Homicide. This podcast contained subject
matter which may not be suitable for all audiences. Discretion
is advised.
Speaker 6 (01:53):
I've known Ashley since around two thousand and one.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Pastor John Trujillo first met Ashley roy Bay when she
was in middle school.
Speaker 6 (02:02):
She started coming to church as a little girl. Actually,
and her sisters we absolutely loved. She was always at
the church always. I don't think it was in a
day that go by that her and her sisters were
never at the church. They would come and clean, they
would come and help us with the yard. They would
help us with performances with dramas. They were always part
of our church, or always part of our family.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
The pastor also knew Ashley outside of the church.
Speaker 6 (02:28):
She grew up with my sons because they were all
the same age. She even went to problem with my
oldest son, and it was strange because she.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Was always willing to help.
Speaker 6 (02:38):
But as she got older, she became less and less
involved in the church, to the point where she never
came back again.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Only knew is what he heard. Then Ashley went down
the proverbial wrong path.
Speaker 6 (02:51):
I would hear bits and pieces that she was running
with some of the wrong people, with the wrong crowds, drinking,
drug use, you know, even to the point where she
was even getting involved doing things a little bit criminal.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
By the time Ashley turned twenty five, she racked up
by a lengthy rap sheet, including three felonies. Following her
arrest in twenty twelve, she decided to clear her conscience.
She told the police she had first hand information about
the twenty eleven triple murder in al Natcho.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
So it was Father's Day time.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Though, Ashley said, back in the early morning hours Father's
Day twenty eleven, Nick Ortiz needed Ashley to pick him up,
but why did he call Ashley well, despite the fact
that she was several years older than him. Nick was
Ashley's ex boyfriend, so this gets a little confusing. Although
Nick shared the same last name as Lloyd, Dixie and Stephen,
(03:45):
they aren't related, but they did act like family and
along with that, Nick was friends with Sharie or TI's
son and her brother Stephen. Nick even lived with Sharif
for a few weeks when he was having issues with
his parents.
Speaker 6 (04:00):
She would invite him to stay there spend the night.
Sometimes he became, you know, good friends with Scheri, Jesse,
you know, the kids, and he was part of our church.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Nick Ortiz also went to Pastor John's church.
Speaker 6 (04:14):
Nicholas was there almost pretty consistently. And I always willing
to help if we were doing something at church, what
do you need me to do? Or he would go
to the youth pastor and say, you know, what can
I help out with this? Or what can I do here?
And you know, constantly wanting to be part of what
we were doing. You know, he showed himself to be
a pleasant young man.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Let's get back to what happened in the early morning
hours a Father's Day twenty eleven, when Nick called Ashley
for a ride.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Do you remember how he sottled on the phone, panicked.
He sounded like he was in trouble. Yeah, just come
get me.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
According to Ashley, Nick said he was near Stephen Ortiz's house,
so Ashley drove there, but when she arrived, she knew
something was wrong. Nick looked disheveled and he had a
trash back in his shoes.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Now when you picked him up, and.
Speaker 5 (05:06):
That's when he told me that he used to pick as.
Speaker 7 (05:09):
He told me that he got Lloyd first, and then
Stephen in the kitchen, then Dixie in the.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Virgin You heard that right, Ashley says. Nick admitted to
killing Lloyd, Dixie and Stephen Ortiz.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Did he ever give an explanation why it happened?
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Well, he told me his intentions are going to rob them,
Ashley said. Nick knew Lloyd had cash and a marijuana
grow at the house because he had spent so much
time there. But instead of robbing them, Nick killed all
three and then left without any money or drugs. And then,
according to Ashley, he threatened her and told her she
(05:46):
better keep quiet.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
And we talked Nick a couple of times already, but
if he decides to give it up, he starts naming
a bunch of the names. We needn't know if you're
going to come up.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I mean I didn't pick him up then, I.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
That's all I did.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
So, as you can imagine, the detectives wondered why Ashley
finally decided to break her silence. They spent the next
few days looking into Ashley's story, and when they reviewed
Nick Ortiz's cell phone records from the night of the murders,
something stood out, so they brought Ashley back for more questioning.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
There's a lot more that you're not telling us. Okay,
there's a lot more involvement from some different people, and
that's what we need to clarify.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
After coming Nick's cell phone records from that night, they
learned a third person was involved. So who else was
there that night? Sir Ashley said, This mysterious third person.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Was Jose, So why protect ho?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Sir Ashley said she was protecting Jose because he is
her cousin. At the time of the murders, Jose Roibald
was just fifteen years old, and omitting this information upset detectives.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
I don't want to call it.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
His attorney says, she gives a lot of information, but
for some reason she withheld this from us.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
We don't need that.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
And that's when Ashley changed her story and admitted that
her cousin Jose, was also there that night. Reporter Alex
Tomlin covered this story.
Speaker 8 (07:15):
So Ashley tells the police that they can cock this
plan to go for and steal money in marijuana, and
that Nicholas knows the house, he knows the family, he's
going to be in and out right. She drops the
two guys, Jose and Nick Off at the family's house.
The way the story goes from there is Jose kind
of backs out, doesn't what I put it, bet, but
Nicholas decides to go ahead and go in. And he
(07:38):
goes in, he commits the crimes, and he calls to
get picked up, and she picks him up. He's obviously disheveled.
I'm sure he's extremely covered in blood after this horrific crime,
and he's throwing the pickaxe which was later found in
the field. Ashley roy Baal gives him a place to stay,
(07:59):
cleans him up up all that, and really they all
kept quiet.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
The police then questioned Jose Roibaal, and Jose said Ashley's
story was not true. He claims it was Ashley who
came up with the idea to go in and murder
the or teases.
Speaker 8 (08:16):
She supposedly gives them socks to cover their hands, trash
bags to cover their feet.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Not only that, but Jose said, Ashley left out another
key detail. She's the one who provided the murder weapon,
her grandfather's pickaxe. All of it left investigators wondering who
and what to believe.
Speaker 8 (08:37):
There's things that kind of don't match ups or shifting stories,
and then, of course there's always the element that again,
she was facing her own criminal charges on other things.
So with Ashley and Jose, the question always remains what
part did they really play.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Although the cousins disagreed on some major details, they both
told investigators that the murderer was Nick or Tease.
Speaker 8 (08:58):
It also just seemed so oh random. It was almost
like the answer everyone had been waiting for. That surely
someone must have broken in for something and done this,
But at the same time, it's been several years, nobody
had heard anything. All of a sudden it comes forward
that it's these teenagers, and not only is it teenagers.
(09:19):
It's teenagers who had been welcomed with open arms into
this family, and that was even more of a blow,
you know, But it started to make sense that, well, yeah,
because he knew the house, he knew how they were,
he knew that he could get in, and supposedly that
they had this cash.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Nick was living with your teases. But then just two
weeks before the murders, Nick kind of falling out with
them and Lloyd kicked Nick out. But we're things so
bad that Nick returned to kill them.
Speaker 8 (09:50):
The only thing that adds up to me is thinking
about it in the mindset of a teenager, quick cash,
some pot, It's gonna be easy, and it just you know,
but yeah, I mean, like, as an adult sitting here,
what everything about this is so ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
The detectives have to figure out who's telling the truth,
Ashley or Jose Roibaal, and they figured the best way
to do that was to question Nick Ortiz. Ashley Roiball
(10:28):
is talking to New Mexico State Police. That's because the
town of al Rancho, where the murder of Lloyd Dixie
and Stephen Ortiz happened, doesn't have their own police force,
so the state police had to get involved. According to Ashley,
she said her ex boyfriend Nick Ortiz killed Lloyd Dixie
and Steven Ortiz. Keep in mind that Nick shares the
(10:51):
same last name of the victims, but they aren't related.
But Ashley's cousin, Jose says Ashley is the one who
came up with the idea to murder the r teses.
He says she even provided the pickaxe. Ashley refuted this.
She claimed she was simply the getaway driver that night.
Despite their differences, both cousins accused Nick Ortiz of actually
(11:15):
carrying out the murders, and in another crazy twist, the
state police heard a third version of what happened. When
they questioned Nick.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Ortis, your name has come up quite a bit, and
we're talking in reference to the orts sound site, which
happened a little over two years in twenty eleven.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
And I know we had talked to you a few
times about it.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
So I'm hoping that you can run me by pretty
much what happened.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
So Nick agreed that he was with Jose Roi Ball
the day before the murders.
Speaker 7 (11:48):
Me and them were just been hanging out, just almost
drinking a little bit getting high.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
But Nick said he was back home with his parents
by ten pm that night, and then what.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Did you do after ten? I watched a few movies.
Speaker 7 (12:02):
I woke my dad up around twelve one in the
morning and tell him Happy Father's Day.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
After that, I went to sleep.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
It's not easy to make out what Nick is saying,
but he told investigators that after watching a few movies,
he woke up his dad around twelve or one am
to wish him a happy Father's Day, and then Nick
said he went back to sleep.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
But I have evidence that shows that you're lying to me.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
I have phone records that prove that you were at
a certain place after ten pm and it wasn't home.
I've talked to Hossey recently, and I know that you
guys were together after ten pm. I know he didn't
drive you home at that time, and if he did,
you guys left again.
Speaker 7 (12:43):
Later earlier I was with him and actually I don't know,
I know you were with them.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, because you want to know something that's really interesting,
her phone.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Shows the same spot. Do you want to know where
that place is at? At sirtez ssidence? Okay, you were
there that night?
Speaker 7 (13:00):
Uh, I'm gonna be honest with you, and this is
this is really the only thing I could remember. We
had a broken into the house and stole a gun.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
You said, this is at Stevens house, right, yeah, i'd
you guys get into the house.
Speaker 7 (13:14):
There's a bathroom window that was opened into there, Okay,
And I honest say, that's the only thing I could
remember that that might have happened around.
Speaker 5 (13:24):
There at that time.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
So Nick admitted to breaking into the Ortiz's house and
stealing a gun, but he didn't admit to the murders.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
I know you guys did some stuff after that. We've
talked to all these people, We've done so much work.
It's been two years. These people have finally decided to say,
I don't want to light to us anymore.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
This is what happened.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
So why are these people putting themselves at around the
Orties residence and saying they were with you? Why would
they throw themselves under the bus. This doesn't look good
for you there.
Speaker 7 (13:55):
I just I mean, I want this to be over
as much as you guys. I I'm tired of having
to look over my shoulder. I know you guys follow me.
Speaker 8 (14:05):
I'm not done.
Speaker 7 (14:05):
I see you guys, and I'm just I'm tired of it.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
I just wanted to be over.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
After ninety minutes of back and forth, investigators finally had
Nick cornered, but they weren't expecting what he said next.
Speaker 7 (14:19):
With all due respect to you guys and all that,
I'd really like to just stop talking and.
Speaker 6 (14:24):
Go on now, Nicholas, when he was in church, William
never told us a whole lot about any of this.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
John Druhio was the pastor at next church.
Speaker 6 (14:35):
At one point Nicholas did. Nicholas came and says, it
feels like something's unraveling or coming down the pipe and
I just need some prayer. And I said, well, what's
going on? What did you do? What happened? He says, well,
I can't say anything right now, but can you at
least can you just pray for me? And you could
see that he was very troubled, so we prayed with him.
I kind of had my suspicions that this was because
(14:56):
of the murders, because you know just how distraught he
was and how nervous he was, and how scared he was.
That was a different type of scare. It wasn't like
a scare you were going to get in trouble for
wrecking the car or for getting a speeding ticket. This
was a deep rooted fear that I saw in him.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
In small towns like El Rancho, everybody knew one another,
and if someone was in trouble, it was public knowledge.
Speaker 6 (15:24):
So at that point, I'm like, Okay, now it's time
to make sense. Now I can understand that deep, deep,
deep fear that Nicholas was dealing with, because all of
this was starting to come ondone.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
In February twenty fifteen, almost four years after the murder's
police finally put a warn out for Nick or Tea's arrest.
Shari and Jesse Aretiz, who earlier were thought to be suspects,
were stunned.
Speaker 6 (15:53):
They were in shock, almost disbelief. He stayed with him,
know he was part of their family. It's part of
the church family. We couldn't believe it. I was like
the Nicholas that's helping out, the Nicholas that's here every night,
the Nicholas.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Huh.
Speaker 6 (16:13):
I never saw that coming at all.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Nick Ortiz was charged with three counts of first degree murder.
Speaker 6 (16:21):
Some people were in such disbelief, they're wrong, he didn't
do it. He didn't do it. Then you had those
ever sayings. Finally they caught the killer. I knew it
was him. I knew it was him.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
With a small town divided, Nick Ortiz's trial kicked off
in the summer of twenty sixteen.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
My name is Dan Marlowe. I was hired by Nicholas
Ortiz's mother and father to represent him on the charges
of murder.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
The trial was held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, about
twenty five miles from the murder scene.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
I've done a lot of a lot of trials, try
not to overreact to anything, to just be neutral and
fair and even keeled. But you know, I have to
say I was uncomfortable, you know, with the large contingent
of people from l Rancho.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
The l Rancho group was made up of friends and
neighbors of the victims who wanted to see Nick Ortiz
locked up for life.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
I was concerned that there was going to be some
kind of physical confrontation out in the front of the
courthouse between the Ortiz family and the group from l Rancho.
So there was some sparks there, definitely.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
It took the police nearly four years to charge Nick
Ortiz and his lawyer thought the case against him was weak.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
The defendant in this case had a real tight relationship
with the Ortiz family. He was almost like one of
their children, and he loved both of them, both Dixie
and Lloyd, and got along really well with him.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
At the time of the murders, Nick Ortiz was just
sixteen years old. A scroll through a social media account
showed a teenager who took a lot of shirtless selfies
and posted motivational quotes like your future is created by
what you do today, not tomorrow. But the thing that
stood out the most in the courtroom was that Nick
(18:18):
stood just five feet five inches tall. Was he capable
of pick axing three people to death?
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Wasn't the kind of person that would do something like
this in my perception, and I believed that he did
not do it. I believe that he may He may
have had something to do with planning it or saying, yeah,
let's go in and get this money, but he did
not want anything to do with the physicality of killing
(18:47):
these people.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
At the trial, jurors heard from two witnesses testifying that
they heard Nick admit to the murders, but one of
those witnesses was incarcerated at the time of the trial.
Son Robert also testified. He said he was friends with
Nick Ortiz and that Nick joined the family on trips.
They were generous to him. Nick even lived at their
(19:10):
house for a few months while he was having problems
at home, but things changed. Just two weeks before the murders,
Lloyd caught Nick trying to steal from them and kicked
him out. As heartbreaking as it is to hear Robert's
testimony against Nick, the prosecution's two key witnesses were cousins
Ashley and Jose Royball.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
Both of those individuals were cousins, and Jose knew Nicholas.
They were bros, so to speak, considered themselves to be
gang members, although there was no gang that they were
really associated with.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Ashley testified that the plan was to rob the Ortizes
of money and marijuana, and that she was simply the
getaway driver, but her cousin Jose disagreed. He said it
was Ashley who came up with the idea of murdering
the Orteases. Although their stories differed, they did agree on
one thing.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Both he and Ashley said that Nicholas was the one
that did it and Jose and Ashley's story did not
match in any way during the planning, after the commission
of the crime, all of that which showed me that
there was some problems there. There was conflicts in the testimony.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Aside from their stories now matching up, the defense claimed
both witnesses had some real credibility issues. Ashley was in
her mid twenties and already had three prior felony convictions
when she was facing new charges. That's when she decided
to cooperate with the police and named Nick as the killer.
The defense pointed out how prosecutors offered Ashley some leniency
(20:49):
in exchange for testimony.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
And she and Jose were real tight. They were first cousins.
They had every reason to put the blame on Nicholas
in order to get out of it, huge motive.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Jose Roibauld was just fifteen years old at the time
of the murders, and in exchange for his testimony, he
received immunity.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
Of course, I'm a naturally suspicious person because I'm a
defense lawyer, but these are the kind of things that
I look at. It didn't set right with me.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
The defense argued that there was no physical evidence linking
Nick Ortez to the murders.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
There was nothing. There was no DNA, no fingerprints, nothing.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Nick Ortees did not take the stand in his own defense,
but his parents did. They testified that on the evening
before Father's Day, they all had dinner together and then
watched movies. Nick's father said he was in bed just
after midnight went, Nick came into his bedroom to wish
him a happy Father's Day. His mother had even more
(21:52):
to say. She said she saw Nick sleeping on the
couch when she returned home from work the next morning.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
Basically, they saw him earlier that evening and then they
didn't see him for a while. Then he was there
the next morning.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
But even though the intention was to help their son,
they did him no favors. When they shared this, they
said Nick never stayed at Shari's house. The only time
he spent any extended period away from home was with
a relative. The defense then shifted back to the murder
victim's daughter, Cherie or Ties.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
Cherie was always complaining about not having any money, always
whining about it, and her conflict with Lloyd, and the
fact that she needed money and was willing to do
anything to get money. That's why I suspected that she
was part of it, and I still do suspect that,
and I probably always will.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
The case went to the jury on the Thursday before
Memorial Day. By the following Wednesday, a week later, the
jury remained hopelessly deadlocked. Just eight of the twelve jurors
voted to convict Nick, which resulted in a hung jury.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
Which means a hung jury is a mistrial. Then you
just retry the case again.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Six months would pass before Nick Ortiz is retrial. It
took nearly four years for the police to charge Nick
Ortiz with murdering Lloyd Dixie and Stephen Ortiz, and after
(23:23):
a hungery in his first trial, he was retried just
after Thanksgiving twenty sixteen. Prosecutors painted Nick as a cold
blooded teenage killer, but the defense claimed that Nick had
been set up and the real killer was Jose roy Ball.
Dan Marlowe was Nick's lawyer.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
I believe that Jose was hired to do this killing,
and I think somebody else came in there and cleaned
the scene up completely so that there was no prince,
there was no DNA. It was just was not what
you would think would happen in a scene like that.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Although roy Baal freely admitted that he was at the
scene that night, he was never charged in the Orties's
case and received immunity in exchange for his testimony against Nick.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
He never spent a day in jail on this, not
even an hour. He wasn't even a suspect.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
So the defense lawyer told durs that Jose walked around
free as a bird with blood on his hands.
Speaker 4 (24:23):
There's no way around that, in my opinion. Who knows
what a jury's going to do?
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Nobody this time. The jury deliberated for two days and
then returned with a verdict on the three counts of
first degree murder. They found Nick or Tez guilty. Nick
buried his head in his hands as his family members
inside the courtroom burst into tears. Then things got ugly.
(24:51):
Nick was handcuffed and ushered out of the courtroom. His
mother shouted profanities at prosecutors and vowed to appeal. The
prosecutors didn't say a word and just exited the courthouse.
For Shari Ortiz, the nightmare for her and her family
was finally over, or was it. About nine months later,
(25:14):
a district judge reversed Nick Ortiz's conviction. In front of
a packed courtroom, the judge said there had been a
fundamental error with the jury instructions in the second trial.
The courtroom was stunned. Nick Ortiz's family erupted in excitement
and hugged one another. Even Nick's lawyer was surprised by
(25:37):
the judge's decision.
Speaker 4 (25:38):
It was highly, highly unusual.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Schari Ortiz quickly exited without speaking to reporters, and the
judge never elaborated on what was the fundamental error in
the jury instructions. He also ordered that Nick betried a
third time. But then in twenty nineteen, two years later
and eight years after the murders, the new Mexico State
(26:02):
Supreme Court struck down the ruling and upheld mixed conviction.
And here the decision came down to a technicality. Next
legal team didn't file his appeal within the ten days
from the time of his conviction. Whether you believe Nick
is guilty or not, it seems crazy that a lack
of paperwork is what resulted in him in getting a conviction.
(26:26):
Defense lawyer Dan Marlowe agrees. He called the decision disgusting
and cowardly.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
Bothered me a lot.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
As for Nick's former girlfriend, Ashley Royball. She was charged
with conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon
and tampering with evidence. As part of her plea deal
with prosecutors, she'll serve no more than ten and a
half years in prison. Meanwhile, Nick Ortiz faced up to
ninety three years behind bars. His lawyer argued that Nick
(26:56):
needed rehabilitation services like therapy at probation, not prison time.
The judge disagreed and sentenced Nick to twenty five years
for each count a first degree murder. But Nick caught
a break here because the judge allowed Nick to serve
those sentences concurrently.
Speaker 8 (27:14):
He is given twenty five years and in New Mexico
he will earn good time.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
TV reporter Alex Tomlin covered the story, so he.
Speaker 8 (27:21):
Will not spend most likely those twenty five years in prison.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
He will be out before that.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
New Mexico's stayed law mandates Nick Ortiz to serve at
least eighty five percent of his twenty five year sentence
with good behavior. He could be eligible for paroles sometime
around the year twenty thirty six, when Nick will be
in his early forties.
Speaker 8 (27:40):
New Mexico has some interesting sendency laws.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Seri Ortiz called the sentence a slap in the face
to her family and the New Mexico justice system. She
placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of the judge,
said she believes the New Mexico justice system is broken.
Speaker 8 (27:56):
If you're part of the Ortiz family, it's never going
to be oh, this is and her husband. It's always
going to be, oh yeah, your parents were murdered. Oh yeah,
your brother was pickaxe to dad. You know, it's always
going to follow them, and it's gonna almost kind of
be like a scarlet letter.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Today. Shari or Teas and her family still live on
the property where her parents and brother were slaughtered.
Speaker 8 (28:17):
And I hope for her she's found some peace and
that that morning doesn't haunt her well.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Ashley Roibaal and Nick Ortis received time in prison. Jose
Roibald got off scott free and listened to this. In
twenty nineteen, sharior Tis told a local newspaper that Jose
had even asked to collect a reward for helping to
solve the murders.
Speaker 6 (28:41):
It becomes almost every man for themselves, and that's kind
of what happened in this case. Every man for themselves.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Pastor John Truvio continues to pray for Shari or Teas
in the community.
Speaker 6 (28:54):
They are a very loved family in our community, a
church BACKSM, a community BACKSM. Shari's recently become a grandma
that house with the healing process it does. But this
will always be there. It will never ever go away.
It's hard enough to lose a family member to death,
(29:16):
but to lose three through murder, That's that's a tough one.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Yes, it is so, as you can imagine. The father
Say Holiday continues to be a painful reminder now Rancho
of the Grizzly murders of twenty eleven.
Speaker 6 (29:33):
This will always stay in our hearts and then our
mindset that on Father's Day, this horrific crime took place.
But it didn't have to end this way. It didn't
if it was a burglary that even went wrong, run.
But to end the lives of three innocent people like
(29:56):
this makes no sense at all. I've been passing this
community for twenty years. We've never experienced or seen anything
like this, and I pray we never ever do again.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Next time. On American Homicide, a young woman goes missing
on the eve of her twenty first birthday. After her
body turns up, the search for the killer leads detectives
to one of the most unlikely places, a church. I'm
Slung Glass. We'll be in Albuquerque, New Mexico. See you
next week. You can contact the American Homicide team by
(30:36):
emailing us at American Homicide Pod at gmail dot com.
That's American Homicide Pod at gmail dot com. American Homicide
is hosted and written by Me Slung Glass and is
a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group,
in partnership with iHeartPodcasts. The show is executive produced by
(30:59):
Nancy Glass and Todd Gams. The series is also written
and produced by Todd Gams, with additional writing by Ben
Fetterman and Andrea Gunny. Our associate producer is Kristin Melcurie.
Our iHeart tyap is Ali Perry and Jessica Crimecheck. Audio
editing and mixing by Matt Delvecchio, additional editing support from
(31:20):
Nico Ruka Tanner Robbins, Brent Roebashow, Dave Seya, and Patrick Walsh.
American Homicide's theme song was composed by Oliver Bains of
Noisier Music library provided by my Music. Follow American Homicide
on Apple Podcasts, and please rate and review American Homicide.
(31:41):
Your five star review goes a long way towards helping
others find this show. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
All right, Ashley, you have the right to remain silent.
If you give up that right, anything you say can
be used against you and court. You have the right
to talk to a lawyer now and have him or her.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
It's October twenty twelve and twenty five year old Ashley
Royball is in custody in New Mexico. She was charged
with burglary and felonie larceny and waved her right to
remain silent. Instead, Ashley told investigators that she had some
information about the unsolved murders of Lloyd Dixie and Stephen Ortiz.
(00:29):
The three were bludgeoned to death by pickaxe on Father's
Day twenty eleven in the tiny town of l Rancho,
New Mexico.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I'm actually the case agent on the jam side of
the ERTs family now Nancho, Okay.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
It had been sixteen months and there had been no
arrest or even major leads.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
In the case.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
The victim's daughter, Shari, was the only person talked about
in town as a potential suspect.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
I understand that you know some details.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I no, I did it. Imagine how surprised detectives were
when Ashley says she knows who killed Lloyd, Dixie and
Stephen Ortiz.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
So why are you telling us?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Because it's not right to see a good people.
Speaker 5 (01:13):
I grew up with Stephen.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
I'm to school with him, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, detectives knew what she meant. Ashley Royball says she
was close with all three and mentioned that when her
own mother died, it was Lloyd and Dixie who helped
pay for her funeral.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I wanted to come and I just couldn't.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
So Ashley Roiball was finally ready to break her silence.
I'm slung glass. And this is the conclusion of the
Father's Day Murders on American Homicide. This podcast contained subject
matter which may not be suitable for all audiences. Discretion
is advised.
Speaker 6 (01:53):
I've known Ashley since around two thousand and one.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Pastor John Trujillo first met Ashley roy Bay when she
was in middle school.
Speaker 6 (02:02):
She started coming to church as a little girl. Actually,
and her sisters we absolutely loved. She was always at
the church always. I don't think it was in a
day that go by that her and her sisters were
never at the church. They would come and clean, they
would come and help us with the yard. They would
help us with performances with dramas. They were always part
of our church, or always part of our family.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
The pastor also knew Ashley outside of the church.
Speaker 6 (02:28):
She grew up with my sons because they were all
the same age. She even went to problem with my
oldest son, and it was strange because she.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Was always willing to help.
Speaker 6 (02:38):
But as she got older, she became less and less
involved in the church, to the point where she never
came back again.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Only knew is what he heard. Then Ashley went down
the proverbial wrong path.
Speaker 6 (02:51):
I would hear bits and pieces that she was running
with some of the wrong people, with the wrong crowds, drinking,
drug use, you know, even to the point where she
was even getting involved doing things a little bit criminal.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
By the time Ashley turned twenty five, she racked up
by a lengthy rap sheet, including three felonies. Following her
arrest in twenty twelve, she decided to clear her conscience.
She told the police she had first hand information about
the twenty eleven triple murder in al Natcho.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
So it was Father's Day time.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Though, Ashley said, back in the early morning hours Father's
Day twenty eleven, Nick Ortiz needed Ashley to pick him up,
but why did he call Ashley well, despite the fact
that she was several years older than him. Nick was
Ashley's ex boyfriend, so this gets a little confusing. Although
Nick shared the same last name as Lloyd, Dixie and Stephen,
(03:45):
they aren't related, but they did act like family and
along with that, Nick was friends with Sharie or TI's
son and her brother Stephen. Nick even lived with Sharif
for a few weeks when he was having issues with
his parents.
Speaker 6 (04:00):
She would invite him to stay there spend the night.
Sometimes he became, you know, good friends with Scheri, Jesse,
you know, the kids, and he was part of our church.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Nick Ortiz also went to Pastor John's church.
Speaker 6 (04:14):
Nicholas was there almost pretty consistently. And I always willing
to help if we were doing something at church, what
do you need me to do? Or he would go
to the youth pastor and say, you know, what can
I help out with this? Or what can I do here?
And you know, constantly wanting to be part of what
we were doing. You know, he showed himself to be
a pleasant young man.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Let's get back to what happened in the early morning
hours a Father's Day twenty eleven, when Nick called Ashley
for a ride.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Do you remember how he sottled on the phone, panicked.
He sounded like he was in trouble. Yeah, just come
get me.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
According to Ashley, Nick said he was near Stephen Ortiz's house,
so Ashley drove there, but when she arrived, she knew
something was wrong. Nick looked disheveled and he had a
trash back in his shoes.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Now when you picked him up, and.
Speaker 5 (05:06):
That's when he told me that he used to pick as.
Speaker 7 (05:09):
He told me that he got Lloyd first, and then
Stephen in the kitchen, then Dixie in the.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Virgin You heard that right, Ashley says. Nick admitted to
killing Lloyd, Dixie and Stephen Ortiz.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Did he ever give an explanation why it happened?
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Well, he told me his intentions are going to rob them,
Ashley said. Nick knew Lloyd had cash and a marijuana
grow at the house because he had spent so much
time there. But instead of robbing them, Nick killed all
three and then left without any money or drugs. And then,
according to Ashley, he threatened her and told her she
(05:46):
better keep quiet.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
And we talked Nick a couple of times already, but
if he decides to give it up, he starts naming
a bunch of the names. We needn't know if you're
going to come up.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I mean I didn't pick him up then, I.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
That's all I did.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
So, as you can imagine, the detectives wondered why Ashley
finally decided to break her silence. They spent the next
few days looking into Ashley's story, and when they reviewed
Nick Ortiz's cell phone records from the night of the murders,
something stood out, so they brought Ashley back for more questioning.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
There's a lot more that you're not telling us. Okay,
there's a lot more involvement from some different people, and
that's what we need to clarify.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
After coming Nick's cell phone records from that night, they
learned a third person was involved. So who else was
there that night? Sir Ashley said, This mysterious third person.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Was Jose, So why protect ho?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Sir Ashley said she was protecting Jose because he is
her cousin. At the time of the murders, Jose Roibald
was just fifteen years old, and omitting this information upset detectives.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
I don't want to call it.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
His attorney says, she gives a lot of information, but
for some reason she withheld this from us.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
We don't need that.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
And that's when Ashley changed her story and admitted that
her cousin Jose, was also there that night. Reporter Alex
Tomlin covered this story.
Speaker 8 (07:15):
So Ashley tells the police that they can cock this
plan to go for and steal money in marijuana, and
that Nicholas knows the house, he knows the family, he's
going to be in and out right. She drops the
two guys, Jose and Nick Off at the family's house.
The way the story goes from there is Jose kind
of backs out, doesn't what I put it, bet, but
Nicholas decides to go ahead and go in. And he
(07:38):
goes in, he commits the crimes, and he calls to
get picked up, and she picks him up. He's obviously disheveled.
I'm sure he's extremely covered in blood after this horrific crime,
and he's throwing the pickaxe which was later found in
the field. Ashley roy Baal gives him a place to stay,
(07:59):
cleans him up up all that, and really they all
kept quiet.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
The police then questioned Jose Roibaal, and Jose said Ashley's
story was not true. He claims it was Ashley who
came up with the idea to go in and murder
the or teases.
Speaker 8 (08:16):
She supposedly gives them socks to cover their hands, trash
bags to cover their feet.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Not only that, but Jose said, Ashley left out another
key detail. She's the one who provided the murder weapon,
her grandfather's pickaxe. All of it left investigators wondering who
and what to believe.
Speaker 8 (08:37):
There's things that kind of don't match ups or shifting stories,
and then, of course there's always the element that again,
she was facing her own criminal charges on other things.
So with Ashley and Jose, the question always remains what
part did they really play.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Although the cousins disagreed on some major details, they both
told investigators that the murderer was Nick or Tease.
Speaker 8 (08:58):
It also just seemed so oh random. It was almost
like the answer everyone had been waiting for. That surely
someone must have broken in for something and done this,
But at the same time, it's been several years, nobody
had heard anything. All of a sudden it comes forward
that it's these teenagers, and not only is it teenagers.
(09:19):
It's teenagers who had been welcomed with open arms into
this family, and that was even more of a blow,
you know, But it started to make sense that, well, yeah,
because he knew the house, he knew how they were,
he knew that he could get in, and supposedly that
they had this cash.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Nick was living with your teases. But then just two
weeks before the murders, Nick kind of falling out with
them and Lloyd kicked Nick out. But we're things so
bad that Nick returned to kill them.
Speaker 8 (09:50):
The only thing that adds up to me is thinking
about it in the mindset of a teenager, quick cash,
some pot, It's gonna be easy, and it just you know,
but yeah, I mean, like, as an adult sitting here,
what everything about this is so ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
The detectives have to figure out who's telling the truth,
Ashley or Jose Roibaal, and they figured the best way
to do that was to question Nick Ortiz. Ashley Roiball
(10:28):
is talking to New Mexico State Police. That's because the
town of al Rancho, where the murder of Lloyd Dixie
and Stephen Ortiz happened, doesn't have their own police force,
so the state police had to get involved. According to Ashley,
she said her ex boyfriend Nick Ortiz killed Lloyd Dixie
and Steven Ortiz. Keep in mind that Nick shares the
(10:51):
same last name of the victims, but they aren't related.
But Ashley's cousin, Jose says Ashley is the one who
came up with the idea to murder the r teses.
He says she even provided the pickaxe. Ashley refuted this.
She claimed she was simply the getaway driver that night.
Despite their differences, both cousins accused Nick Ortiz of actually
(11:15):
carrying out the murders, and in another crazy twist, the
state police heard a third version of what happened. When
they questioned Nick.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Ortis, your name has come up quite a bit, and
we're talking in reference to the orts sound site, which
happened a little over two years in twenty eleven.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
And I know we had talked to you a few
times about it.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
So I'm hoping that you can run me by pretty
much what happened.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
So Nick agreed that he was with Jose Roi Ball
the day before the murders.
Speaker 7 (11:48):
Me and them were just been hanging out, just almost
drinking a little bit getting high.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
But Nick said he was back home with his parents
by ten pm that night, and then what.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Did you do after ten? I watched a few movies.
Speaker 7 (12:02):
I woke my dad up around twelve one in the
morning and tell him Happy Father's Day.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
After that, I went to sleep.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
It's not easy to make out what Nick is saying,
but he told investigators that after watching a few movies,
he woke up his dad around twelve or one am
to wish him a happy Father's Day, and then Nick
said he went back to sleep.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
But I have evidence that shows that you're lying to me.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
I have phone records that prove that you were at
a certain place after ten pm and it wasn't home.
I've talked to Hossey recently, and I know that you
guys were together after ten pm. I know he didn't
drive you home at that time, and if he did,
you guys left again.
Speaker 7 (12:43):
Later earlier I was with him and actually I don't know,
I know you were with them.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, because you want to know something that's really interesting,
her phone.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Shows the same spot. Do you want to know where
that place is at? At sirtez ssidence? Okay, you were
there that night?
Speaker 7 (13:00):
Uh, I'm gonna be honest with you, and this is
this is really the only thing I could remember. We
had a broken into the house and stole a gun.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
You said, this is at Stevens house, right, yeah, i'd
you guys get into the house.
Speaker 7 (13:14):
There's a bathroom window that was opened into there, Okay,
And I honest say, that's the only thing I could
remember that that might have happened around.
Speaker 5 (13:24):
There at that time.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
So Nick admitted to breaking into the Ortiz's house and
stealing a gun, but he didn't admit to the murders.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
I know you guys did some stuff after that. We've
talked to all these people, We've done so much work.
It's been two years. These people have finally decided to say,
I don't want to light to us anymore.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
This is what happened.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
So why are these people putting themselves at around the
Orties residence and saying they were with you? Why would
they throw themselves under the bus. This doesn't look good
for you there.
Speaker 7 (13:55):
I just I mean, I want this to be over
as much as you guys. I I'm tired of having
to look over my shoulder. I know you guys follow me.
Speaker 8 (14:05):
I'm not done.
Speaker 7 (14:05):
I see you guys, and I'm just I'm tired of it.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
I just wanted to be over.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
After ninety minutes of back and forth, investigators finally had
Nick cornered, but they weren't expecting what he said next.
Speaker 7 (14:19):
With all due respect to you guys and all that,
I'd really like to just stop talking and.
Speaker 6 (14:24):
Go on now, Nicholas, when he was in church, William
never told us a whole lot about any of this.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
John Druhio was the pastor at next church.
Speaker 6 (14:35):
At one point Nicholas did. Nicholas came and says, it
feels like something's unraveling or coming down the pipe and
I just need some prayer. And I said, well, what's
going on? What did you do? What happened? He says, well,
I can't say anything right now, but can you at
least can you just pray for me? And you could
see that he was very troubled, so we prayed with him.
I kind of had my suspicions that this was because
(14:56):
of the murders, because you know just how distraught he
was and how nervous he was, and how scared he was.
That was a different type of scare. It wasn't like
a scare you were going to get in trouble for
wrecking the car or for getting a speeding ticket. This
was a deep rooted fear that I saw in him.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
In small towns like El Rancho, everybody knew one another,
and if someone was in trouble, it was public knowledge.
Speaker 6 (15:24):
So at that point, I'm like, Okay, now it's time
to make sense. Now I can understand that deep, deep,
deep fear that Nicholas was dealing with, because all of
this was starting to come ondone.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
In February twenty fifteen, almost four years after the murder's
police finally put a warn out for Nick or Tea's arrest.
Shari and Jesse Aretiz, who earlier were thought to be suspects,
were stunned.
Speaker 6 (15:53):
They were in shock, almost disbelief. He stayed with him,
know he was part of their family. It's part of
the church family. We couldn't believe it. I was like
the Nicholas that's helping out, the Nicholas that's here every night,
the Nicholas.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Huh.
Speaker 6 (16:13):
I never saw that coming at all.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Nick Ortiz was charged with three counts of first degree murder.
Speaker 6 (16:21):
Some people were in such disbelief, they're wrong, he didn't
do it. He didn't do it. Then you had those
ever sayings. Finally they caught the killer. I knew it
was him. I knew it was him.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
With a small town divided, Nick Ortiz's trial kicked off
in the summer of twenty sixteen.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
My name is Dan Marlowe. I was hired by Nicholas
Ortiz's mother and father to represent him on the charges
of murder.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
The trial was held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, about
twenty five miles from the murder scene.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
I've done a lot of a lot of trials, try
not to overreact to anything, to just be neutral and
fair and even keeled. But you know, I have to
say I was uncomfortable, you know, with the large contingent
of people from l Rancho.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
The l Rancho group was made up of friends and
neighbors of the victims who wanted to see Nick Ortiz
locked up for life.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
I was concerned that there was going to be some
kind of physical confrontation out in the front of the
courthouse between the Ortiz family and the group from l Rancho.
So there was some sparks there, definitely.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
It took the police nearly four years to charge Nick
Ortiz and his lawyer thought the case against him was weak.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
The defendant in this case had a real tight relationship
with the Ortiz family. He was almost like one of
their children, and he loved both of them, both Dixie
and Lloyd, and got along really well with him.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
At the time of the murders, Nick Ortiz was just
sixteen years old. A scroll through a social media account
showed a teenager who took a lot of shirtless selfies
and posted motivational quotes like your future is created by
what you do today, not tomorrow. But the thing that
stood out the most in the courtroom was that Nick
(18:18):
stood just five feet five inches tall. Was he capable
of pick axing three people to death?
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Wasn't the kind of person that would do something like
this in my perception, and I believed that he did
not do it. I believe that he may He may
have had something to do with planning it or saying, yeah,
let's go in and get this money, but he did
not want anything to do with the physicality of killing
(18:47):
these people.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
At the trial, jurors heard from two witnesses testifying that
they heard Nick admit to the murders, but one of
those witnesses was incarcerated at the time of the trial.
Son Robert also testified. He said he was friends with
Nick Ortiz and that Nick joined the family on trips.
They were generous to him. Nick even lived at their
(19:10):
house for a few months while he was having problems
at home, but things changed. Just two weeks before the murders,
Lloyd caught Nick trying to steal from them and kicked
him out. As heartbreaking as it is to hear Robert's
testimony against Nick, the prosecution's two key witnesses were cousins
Ashley and Jose Royball.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
Both of those individuals were cousins, and Jose knew Nicholas.
They were bros, so to speak, considered themselves to be
gang members, although there was no gang that they were
really associated with.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Ashley testified that the plan was to rob the Ortizes
of money and marijuana, and that she was simply the
getaway driver, but her cousin Jose disagreed. He said it
was Ashley who came up with the idea of murdering
the Orteases. Although their stories differed, they did agree on
one thing.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Both he and Ashley said that Nicholas was the one
that did it and Jose and Ashley's story did not
match in any way during the planning, after the commission
of the crime, all of that which showed me that
there was some problems there. There was conflicts in the testimony.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Aside from their stories now matching up, the defense claimed
both witnesses had some real credibility issues. Ashley was in
her mid twenties and already had three prior felony convictions
when she was facing new charges. That's when she decided
to cooperate with the police and named Nick as the killer.
The defense pointed out how prosecutors offered Ashley some leniency
(20:49):
in exchange for testimony.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
And she and Jose were real tight. They were first cousins.
They had every reason to put the blame on Nicholas
in order to get out of it, huge motive.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Jose Roibauld was just fifteen years old at the time
of the murders, and in exchange for his testimony, he
received immunity.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
Of course, I'm a naturally suspicious person because I'm a
defense lawyer, but these are the kind of things that
I look at. It didn't set right with me.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
The defense argued that there was no physical evidence linking
Nick Ortez to the murders.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
There was nothing. There was no DNA, no fingerprints, nothing.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Nick Ortees did not take the stand in his own defense,
but his parents did. They testified that on the evening
before Father's Day, they all had dinner together and then
watched movies. Nick's father said he was in bed just
after midnight went, Nick came into his bedroom to wish
him a happy Father's Day. His mother had even more
(21:52):
to say. She said she saw Nick sleeping on the
couch when she returned home from work the next morning.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
Basically, they saw him earlier that evening and then they
didn't see him for a while. Then he was there
the next morning.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
But even though the intention was to help their son,
they did him no favors. When they shared this, they
said Nick never stayed at Shari's house. The only time
he spent any extended period away from home was with
a relative. The defense then shifted back to the murder
victim's daughter, Cherie or Ties.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
Cherie was always complaining about not having any money, always
whining about it, and her conflict with Lloyd, and the
fact that she needed money and was willing to do
anything to get money. That's why I suspected that she
was part of it, and I still do suspect that,
and I probably always will.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
The case went to the jury on the Thursday before
Memorial Day. By the following Wednesday, a week later, the
jury remained hopelessly deadlocked. Just eight of the twelve jurors
voted to convict Nick, which resulted in a hung jury.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
Which means a hung jury is a mistrial. Then you
just retry the case again.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Six months would pass before Nick Ortiz is retrial. It
took nearly four years for the police to charge Nick
Ortiz with murdering Lloyd Dixie and Stephen Ortiz, and after
(23:23):
a hungery in his first trial, he was retried just
after Thanksgiving twenty sixteen. Prosecutors painted Nick as a cold
blooded teenage killer, but the defense claimed that Nick had
been set up and the real killer was Jose roy Ball.
Dan Marlowe was Nick's lawyer.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
I believe that Jose was hired to do this killing,
and I think somebody else came in there and cleaned
the scene up completely so that there was no prince,
there was no DNA. It was just was not what
you would think would happen in a scene like that.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Although roy Baal freely admitted that he was at the
scene that night, he was never charged in the Orties's
case and received immunity in exchange for his testimony against Nick.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
He never spent a day in jail on this, not
even an hour. He wasn't even a suspect.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
So the defense lawyer told durs that Jose walked around
free as a bird with blood on his hands.
Speaker 4 (24:23):
There's no way around that, in my opinion. Who knows
what a jury's going to do?
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Nobody this time. The jury deliberated for two days and
then returned with a verdict on the three counts of
first degree murder. They found Nick or Tez guilty. Nick
buried his head in his hands as his family members
inside the courtroom burst into tears. Then things got ugly.
(24:51):
Nick was handcuffed and ushered out of the courtroom. His
mother shouted profanities at prosecutors and vowed to appeal. The
prosecutors didn't say a word and just exited the courthouse.
For Shari Ortiz, the nightmare for her and her family
was finally over, or was it. About nine months later,
(25:14):
a district judge reversed Nick Ortiz's conviction. In front of
a packed courtroom, the judge said there had been a
fundamental error with the jury instructions in the second trial.
The courtroom was stunned. Nick Ortiz's family erupted in excitement
and hugged one another. Even Nick's lawyer was surprised by
(25:37):
the judge's decision.
Speaker 4 (25:38):
It was highly, highly unusual.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Schari Ortiz quickly exited without speaking to reporters, and the
judge never elaborated on what was the fundamental error in
the jury instructions. He also ordered that Nick betried a
third time. But then in twenty nineteen, two years later
and eight years after the murders, the new Mexico State
(26:02):
Supreme Court struck down the ruling and upheld mixed conviction.
And here the decision came down to a technicality. Next
legal team didn't file his appeal within the ten days
from the time of his conviction. Whether you believe Nick
is guilty or not, it seems crazy that a lack
of paperwork is what resulted in him in getting a conviction.
(26:26):
Defense lawyer Dan Marlowe agrees. He called the decision disgusting
and cowardly.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
Bothered me a lot.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
As for Nick's former girlfriend, Ashley Royball. She was charged
with conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon
and tampering with evidence. As part of her plea deal
with prosecutors, she'll serve no more than ten and a
half years in prison. Meanwhile, Nick Ortiz faced up to
ninety three years behind bars. His lawyer argued that Nick
(26:56):
needed rehabilitation services like therapy at probation, not prison time.
The judge disagreed and sentenced Nick to twenty five years
for each count a first degree murder. But Nick caught
a break here because the judge allowed Nick to serve
those sentences concurrently.
Speaker 8 (27:14):
He is given twenty five years and in New Mexico
he will earn good time.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
TV reporter Alex Tomlin covered the story, so he.
Speaker 8 (27:21):
Will not spend most likely those twenty five years in prison.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
He will be out before that.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
New Mexico's stayed law mandates Nick Ortiz to serve at
least eighty five percent of his twenty five year sentence
with good behavior. He could be eligible for paroles sometime
around the year twenty thirty six, when Nick will be
in his early forties.
Speaker 8 (27:40):
New Mexico has some interesting sendency laws.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Seri Ortiz called the sentence a slap in the face
to her family and the New Mexico justice system. She
placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of the judge,
said she believes the New Mexico justice system is broken.
Speaker 8 (27:56):
If you're part of the Ortiz family, it's never going
to be oh, this is and her husband. It's always
going to be, oh yeah, your parents were murdered. Oh yeah,
your brother was pickaxe to dad. You know, it's always
going to follow them, and it's gonna almost kind of
be like a scarlet letter.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Today. Shari or Teas and her family still live on
the property where her parents and brother were slaughtered.
Speaker 8 (28:17):
And I hope for her she's found some peace and
that that morning doesn't haunt her well.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Ashley Roibaal and Nick Ortis received time in prison. Jose
Roibald got off scott free and listened to this. In
twenty nineteen, sharior Tis told a local newspaper that Jose
had even asked to collect a reward for helping to
solve the murders.
Speaker 6 (28:41):
It becomes almost every man for themselves, and that's kind
of what happened in this case. Every man for themselves.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Pastor John Truvio continues to pray for Shari or Teas
in the community.
Speaker 6 (28:54):
They are a very loved family in our community, a
church BACKSM, a community BACKSM. Shari's recently become a grandma
that house with the healing process it does. But this
will always be there. It will never ever go away.
It's hard enough to lose a family member to death,
(29:16):
but to lose three through murder, That's that's a tough one.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Yes, it is so, as you can imagine. The father
Say Holiday continues to be a painful reminder now Rancho
of the Grizzly murders of twenty eleven.
Speaker 6 (29:33):
This will always stay in our hearts and then our
mindset that on Father's Day, this horrific crime took place.
But it didn't have to end this way. It didn't
if it was a burglary that even went wrong, run.
But to end the lives of three innocent people like
(29:56):
this makes no sense at all. I've been passing this
community for twenty years. We've never experienced or seen anything
like this, and I pray we never ever do again.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Next time. On American Homicide, a young woman goes missing
on the eve of her twenty first birthday. After her
body turns up, the search for the killer leads detectives
to one of the most unlikely places, a church. I'm
Slung Glass. We'll be in Albuquerque, New Mexico. See you
next week. You can contact the American Homicide team by
(30:36):
emailing us at American Homicide Pod at gmail dot com.
That's American Homicide Pod at gmail dot com. American Homicide
is hosted and written by Me Slung Glass and is
a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group,
in partnership with iHeartPodcasts. The show is executive produced by
(30:59):
Nancy Glass and Todd Gams. The series is also written
and produced by Todd Gams, with additional writing by Ben
Fetterman and Andrea Gunny. Our associate producer is Kristin Melcurie.
Our iHeart tyap is Ali Perry and Jessica Crimecheck. Audio
editing and mixing by Matt Delvecchio, additional editing support from
(31:20):
Nico Ruka Tanner Robbins, Brent Roebashow, Dave Seya, and Patrick Walsh.
American Homicide's theme song was composed by Oliver Bains of
Noisier Music library provided by my Music. Follow American Homicide
on Apple Podcasts, and please rate and review American Homicide.
(31:41):
Your five star review goes a long way towards helping
others find this show. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Popular Podcasts
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.