In Cortez, guilty plea stands
Shaun Murphy, charged in the June 2001 beating death of a Navajo teen, Wednesday opted against changing his guilty plea and will be sentenced June 3.
published: 05/23/2002

Slaying suspect faces hearing
A court hearing is set for May 22 on Shaun Murphy's motion to withdraw his guilty plea to second-degree murder in the beating death of a transgendered Navajo teen.
published: 05/14/2002

Killer agrees to plea bargain
The killer of an openly gay Navajo teen-ager has agreed to a plea bargain that carries a maximum prison sentence of 48 years.
published: 02/09/2002

March trial in Navajo's death
A Farmington, N.M., man charged in the death of a transgendered Navajo teen will go to trial on murder charges on his 19th birthday.
published: 10/20/2001

Slaying suspect's mom charged
The mother of an 18-year-old man facing murder charges in the beating death of Navajo teen Fred Martinez has been charged with menacing and intimidating a witness, Montezuma County District Attorney Joe Olt said Friday.
published: 09/15/2001

AG to help with murder case
The state attorney general's office has agreed to help prosecute the first-degree murder case against a New Mexico man accused of killing a 16-year-old transgender Navajo boy.
published: 08/16/2001

Murder charges expanded
Charges in the beating death of a transgendered half-Navajo youth in Cortez have been expanded to include felony first-degree murder, which carries a penalty of life imprisonment or death.
published: 08/14/2001

Cortez teen's death ruled a homicide
The pathologist who conducted an autopsy on a Cortez teen-ager said Tuesday that he has no doubt the teen's death was a homicide.
published: 07/25/2001

Mom angry at portrayal of dead son
The mother of a gay Navajo teen who was beaten to death said Wednesday that she is angry at how her son is being portrayed, how he was treated at school and how he died.
published: 07/19/2001

Teen bragged about attack, affidavits say
A suspect in the killing of a Navajo boy who dressed like a girl bragged to friends in the days after the boy's slaying that he had "beat up a fag," according to affidavits filed in Montezuma County Court.
published: 07/12/2001

Suspect held on bail in slaying
An 18-year-old New Mexico man was ordered held Monday in Cortez on $500,000 bail and formally told he faces a first-degree murder charge in the beating death of an openly gay Navajo youth.
published: 07/10/2001

Teen's death from hate?
Fred C. Martinez Jr. was just one of the girls to his close friends and their mothers, who had grown accustomed to the 16-year-old spending hours with their daughters talking about music and boys and clothes.
published: 07/07/2001

Suspect arrested in Cortez killing
An 18-year-old with a juvenile arrest record and a history of violent behavior is being held in New Mexico in the death of an openly gay, half-Navajo Cortez teen-ager.
published: 07/06/2001

FBI joins Cortez death probe
The FBI has entered the investigation of an openly gay, half-Navajo teen-ager whose death is now being called a homicide.
published: 07/03/2001

Hate crime suspected in gay teen's death
Local speculation in Cortez has been rife with talk of a hate crime in the death of an openly gay, half-Navajo high school student.
published: 06/30/2001

Cortez murder still a puzzle
A 16-year-old boy who plucked his eyebrows, wore makeup and carried a purse at school might have been slain because he was homosexual or because he was Indian, Montezuma County Sheriff Joey Chavez said.
published: 06/28/2001

Body identified as Cortez boy's; slaying suspected
A body found last week south of Cortez has been tentatively identified as that of a Montezuma-Cortez High School sophomore.
published: 06/28/2001