2001-01-23
On January 23, 2001, officers located the body of the 70 year old victim in the backyard of his home. He had been beaten and stabbed to death. Neighbors identified three transients, Joe Delgado, Santos Torres, and another transient man as suspects in the murder. Delgado was arrested not long after the discovery of the body. In addition to confessing his part in the murder, Delgado implicated as participants Torres and an individual from Arizona (later identified as appellant) whom Delgado knew as Benjamin or Carlos. The information gleaned from Delgado’s statement was broadcast to officers over police radio.
Shortly before noon on the 24th, officer Robert Mahaffee, who had a picture of Torres, was canvassing locales frequented by the homeless when he saw two men matching Delgado’s description. After asking the men for their identification, Mahaffee confirmed one of them as Santos Torres; the other, he identified by an out-of-state identification card as Benjamin Alonzo Zepeda–appellant. Mahaffee handcuffed the men, patted them down for weapons, and placed them in the back seat of his patrol car. He advised them that “they were wanted for questioning in a criminal offense.”
According to Mahaffee, the men were not under arrest, but were merely being detained for questioning. Mahaffee then transported them to the Special Crimes Unit located on the second floor of the Amarillo Police Department. There, Mahaffee turned the individuals over to another officer, Rudy Montano, who placed the men in separate interview rooms. After the men were situated in the rooms, Mahaffee’s handcuffs were removed and returned to him. Although the men were not under arrest, Mahaffee believed they were not free to leave.
Around 11:50 a.m. Montano entered the room where appellant was being held and advised him of his Miranda1 rights. Appellant told Montano that he understood those rights. A few minutes later, appellant indicated that he did not want to talk to Montano, and the officer left. Like Mahaffee, Montano did not believe that appellant was free to leave.
At approximately 12:30 p.m. Torres confessed to being involved in the murder. He also implicated Delgado and the man he knew as Carlos or Benjamin with whom he had been arrested (appellant). On the strength of that confession, Paul Horn, the lead detective on the case, secured an arrest warrant for Torres. Horn attempted to do the same for appellant; however, he was unsuccessful in convincing the District Attorney’s Office to file a complaint and seek an arrest warrant for him. At that point, Horn realized he had to release appellant.
But first, recognizing that, at a minimum, appellant was still a witness to a crime, Horn attempted to obtain from him some “witness background”information. It was then that appellant began to question Horn. Initially, appellant queried whether “the other two” (Torres and Delgado) had given a statement, and Horn answered affirmatively. Next, he asked if Torres and Delgado were “locked up and in jail.” Horn told him that they were. Then, appellant asked Horn whether he thought “it would do any good for him to say anything.”
After Horn replied that the answer to that question was up to him, appellant volunteered, “I didn’t want to kill that man.” Appellant then provided a written statement describing his role in the offense and implicating Torres and Delgado. Appellant signed the statement at 8:16 p.m. Horn then requested, and appellant provided, consent to the taking of hair and blood samples. When Horn applied a second time for a warrant for appellant’s arrest, he obtained one.