FILE 466 / 10 February 2024 / 70 MIN / express

No Remorse, Plenty Of Stupid

Fort Sumner, New MexicoListen

The town

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

We're going to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, in eastern central New Mexico, east of Albuquerque, about two and a half hours away. about 0:04:28

History, in brief

Town note

Fort Sumner is named after Edwin Vose Sumner, a former military governor of the New Mexico Territory.

about 0:05:57

1863

U.S. Fort Sumner was a military fort charged with the internment of nearby Navajo and Mescalero Apache people from 1863 to 1868.

about 0:06:03

1868

The federal government closed the fort in 1868 and sold its buildings to Lucian Maxwell, a man who owned a great deal of land in New Mexico.

about 0:06:19

Town note

In the late 1870s Maxwell's son Pete became close friends with Billy the Kid, who hid out in the area.

about 0:06:34
All 7 history facts

Town note

Fort Sumner is named after Edwin Vose Sumner, a former military governor of the New Mexico Territory.

about 0:05:57

1863

U.S. Fort Sumner was a military fort charged with the internment of nearby Navajo and Mescalero Apache people from 1863 to 1868.

about 0:06:03

1868

The federal government closed the fort in 1868 and sold its buildings to Lucian Maxwell, a man who owned a great deal of land in New Mexico.

about 0:06:19

Town note

In the late 1870s Maxwell's son Pete became close friends with Billy the Kid, who hid out in the area.

about 0:06:34

Town note

Billy the Kid is buried in the old military cemetery in Fort Sumner.

about 0:06:56

Town note

Billy the Kid was killed just south of town by Pat Garrett.

about 0:10:49

Town note

Billy the Kid's original tombstone was stolen years ago, and the grave now has a replica.

about 0:09:41

The figures, as told

Money

Median home value$134,600
Median household income$35,556 a year
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2024

Population

"1,364"

No direction stated.

As told in 2024 about 0:05:06

Median household income

"$35,556 a year"

Comparison: "about half the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2024 about 0:05:17

Median home price

"$134,600"

No direction stated.

As told in 2024 about 0:05:25

The reviews

3.0 / 5 · average of 3

5 stars

“A very small rural community, quite peaceful and for the most part a very nice little town; the reviewer would like to see it grow a little and have one or two things for the kids to do.”
about 0:07:24

3 stars

“The community is great and treats one another like family; the downside is that there is not much to do because it is the middle of nowhere.”
about 0:07:52

1 star

“A higher cost of living than other areas with more conveniences, too far from shopping, utilities double or triple those in other towns, water that is often brown or rust coloured so bottled water is an added expense, and a school that was a joke.”
about 0:08:04

In New Mexico

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The story

A.J. Harden was born in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, on 2 April 1938, one of a pair of twins; his brother was known as C.J. He grew up in the town, worked in the logging industry in Alaska and Oregon in the 1950s and 1960s, served in the US Navy, and spent years as a long-haul truck driver for Furs Trucking before owning and operating his own truck. He married Virginia Roberts in 1962. The couple lived in Wellington, Texas, and Dixon, Missouri, before returning to Fort Sumner, where they built and ran a hamburger stand. Virginia died on 16 March 2016, and Harden was diagnosed with cancer the same year.

She had a long relationship with Sean Perkins, and when it ended in 2019 she moved in with her grandfather to care for him, cooking, cleaning, reminding him to take his medication and driving him to appointments. Harden made a will leaving her his house.

On 15 October 2020 a man named Chad Abeta, who had lived in a rented house in the 1900 block of Shenandoah Drive in Fort Sumner for about five months, noticed a large tool chest dumped in the trash pit behind the property. A relative who was dumping rubbish there asked about it, opened it and was met by an overwhelming smell. Inside was a body wrapped in blankets, with the head visible and black duct tape around the mouth, wrists and a leg. The body was too decomposed to identify at first, but the clothing and a doctor's appointment card for a July appointment in a shirt pocket gave the name A.J. Harden.

She claimed she had taken her grandfather to a nursing home in Wellington, Texas, about six months earlier but could not remember its name. Days later she said a great-aunt had checked him out, then named the Shady Oaks Retirement Estate. The police could find no such place. She gave them a phone number for her grandfather that had no voicemail set up. On 22 October she said she needed to speak to her lawyer and never called back.

The Social Security office gave Harden's retirement address as a lake house on Tamarack Lane in Fort Sumner. He also said he owned a tool chest like the one described and had left it at the lake house, but police found no tool chest there.

He said he did not believe her and told her she had killed her grandfather to get his house. He also said that in mid-August, while she was dumping the trailer at the trash pit, she had FaceTimed him after the trailer's tyre blew out; he offered to help but she insisted on finishing alone, then abandoned the trailer.

A warrant was issued for first-degree murder, tampering with evidence and fraud.

Michael Gutierrez, 26, an oilfield worker from Fort Sumner, was beaten in the early hours of 5 February 2021. Police found a garden hose and bloodstained hammers.

The case

Murder of A.J. Harden

Victims

A.J. Harden (83). Retired long-haul truck driver and hamburger stand owner, born in Fort Sumner on April 2nd, 1938; had cancer and lived at a lake house on Tamarack Lane.

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 10 February 2024.

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Sean Perkins. ex-boyfriend; rented the Shenandoah Drive house from his mother
Garrett Bean. boyfriend, who told police she had admitted killing her grandfather
Brenda Moyer. Sean Perkins's mother and owner of the Shenandoah Drive house
Chad Abeta. Renter at the Shenandoah Drive property who found the tool chest
Virginia Roberts. A.J. Harden's wife, who died on March 16th, 2016
Thomas Benavidez. defence attorney
Tommy Harden. uncle and A.J. Harden's son
Jerry Hernandez. New Mexico state police sergeant

The timeline

  1. April 2nd, 1938 A.J. Harden is born in Fort Sumner, one of twins; his brother is known as C.J.about 0:12:23
  2. 1960 Harden's twin brother C.J. dies at the age of 22.about 0:13:50
  3. 1962 Harden marries Virginia Roberts.about 0:14:02
  4. about 1993 Granddaughter is born.about 0:19:00
  5. 2012 Two of Harden's children, Shane and , die in the same year.about 0:16:20
  6. March 16th, 2016 Harden's wife Virginia dies.about 0:17:08
  7. 2016 Harden is diagnosed with cancer.about 0:18:28
  8. 2019 breaks up with Sean Perkins and moves in with her grandfather to care for him.about 0:19:09
  9. 2019 Harden makes a will leaving his house to .about 0:19:34
  10. August 23rd, 2020 asks Brenda Moyer for permission to use the ditch behind the Shenandoah Drive house to dump trash. (Shenandoah Drive trash pit)about 0:47:37
  11. mid-August 2020 FaceTimes Garrett Bean while disposing of the trailer at the trash pit; the trailer has a flat tyre and she leaves it behind. (Shenandoah Drive trash pit)about 0:47:52
  12. August 2020 Harden dies after gives him Xanax and Ambien, as she later tells Garrett Bean; she places his body in a tool chest.about 0:46:19

Murder of Michael Gutierrez

Victims

Michael Gutierrez (26). Grew up in Fort Sumner, graduated from high school there, worked monitoring oil rigs and was known as Ocean Michael.

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 10 February 2024.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Michael Gutierrez's mother. Noticed his slurred speech and pale skin and took him back to hospital
The friend who owned the house. Told police Gutierrez had stolen methamphetamine from him and that Harden and brought him there and tortured him

The timeline

  1. early morning, February 5th, 2021 and go to Michael Gutierrez's house, confront him over methamphetamine he allegedly stole from a friend, kidnap him and take him to the friend's house. (Gutierrez house)about 0:55:35
  2. February 5th, 2021 At the friend's house pistol-whips Gutierrez, Harden beats him with a garden hose and then a hammer about the head and face, and Harden considers cutting off one of his toes. (Friend's house)about 0:56:50
  3. February 8th, 2021 After his mother notices slurred speech and pale skin, Gutierrez is taken back to hospital and pronounced dead at Plain Regional Medical Center in Clovis; the investigation bureau is contacted. (Plain Regional Medical Center)about 0:55:23

Places and phrases

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode