SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) The state Supreme Court has upheld the first-degree murder conviction of a former police officer from Mexico for killing a Carlsbad man nearly four years ago. Fernando Lopez was sentenced to life in prison for murdering Rodolfo Murillo, who was shot in the chest and head on July 4, 2009.
Lopez contended that he shot Murillo after being threatened with a knife. Lopez fled to Mexico after the killing, but later turned himself in to police. In a unanimous ruling on Thursday, the Supreme Court said there was sufficient evidence to support Lopez's conviction and undermine his self-defense claim.
The shooting happened after Murillo and Lopez left a wedding party in Carlsbad to buy beer. Murillo was a cousin of Lopez's wife.
