Man accused in terror spree on the Navajo Nation
May 10—A Fruitland man is accused of killing one man — laughing and shooting as the victim begged for his life — injuring another and terrorizing a family on a road trip during an April shooting spree in western New Mexico.
Rydell Happy, 30, is charged federally with second-degree murder in the April 24 death of the man, identified as "John Doe" in court records.
Happy was booked into the San Juan County jail on Tuesday, but is now in federal custody.
Aric Elsenheimer, Happy's attorney, declined to comment Friday.
Around 10 p.m. on April 24, Navajo Nation police responded to a shooting on U.S. 491, 40 miles north of Gallup, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court. Officers found a family, including grandchildren, in a vehicle pockmarked with bullet holes.
The FBI said the driver told police they were returning from Utah and pulled over on 491 so they could "stretch their legs." The driver said an SUV began to follow the family and rear-ended the vehicle before someone fired several shots at them.
The driver's adult child saw a passenger lean out the SUV window and fire a gun at them, according to the complaint. Police spotted the SUV soon after and gave chase until it crashed, detaining Happy and two others — referred to as "Witness 1" and "Witness 2."
Agents said Witness 1 told them Happy picked them up earlier that day and then picked up Doe, whom Happy "seemed to know." Witness 1 told agents Happy had Witness 2 buy him a .22 caliber revolver from a pawn shop in Gallup.
"Throughout the day, the group participated in criminal activity at the direction of Happy," according to the complaint.
First, agents said, the group picked up a man to give him a ride into Gallup sometime before 8 p.m. The man later told agents the group demanded money and then forced him out of the SUV.
Witness 1 told agents Happy handed them the revolver and said, "Shoot him in the knee cap," according to the complaint. Witness 1 said they then shot the man in the leg.
Agents said Witness 1 told them that, sometime later, Happy fired at a vehicle full of family members along 491. Witness 1 told agents that this led to an argument between "John Doe" and Happy, who told the group to get out of the SUV.
Witness 1 said Happy told Doe to get on his knees, and he began to "beg for his life," according to the complaint. Witness 1 told agents that Happy started laughing "and pulled the trigger."
Agents said Witness 1 told them the gun didn't fire at first, but Happy kept laughing and pulling the trigger until it went off, striking Doe. Witness 1 said Happy then repeatedly bashed Doe's head with a bat, and they pushed the body over a cliff.
Witness 1 told agents that Happy threw the baseball bat and the gun out the SUV as police were chasing them, according to the complaint. Agents found Doe's body on the shelf of a cliff with blood all around him.
Agents said they went to the pawn shop in Gallup, and an employee remembered two people coming in to buy a gun. The employee told agents the pair didn't want to show ID and left the store.
The employee said "a few minutes later," another person came in and bought the gun, according to the complaint. The employee told agents they didn't realize the buyer was with the other two until the group got into the same SUV.
Agents said the revolver has not been found.
Witness 2 told agents "a hitchhiker" they picked up was responsible for the shootings, according to the complaint. Happy told agents he passed out from drinking after they picked up the hitchhiker and didn't know what happened.