Fort Sumner woman gets 18 years in prison

Aug. 27—The Fort Sumner woman who killed her grandfather and left his body in a toolbox in a trash heap was sentenced on Friday to 18 years in prison.

Candy Jo Webb, 28, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the case on July 27 for the August 2020 death of A.J. Harden.

The maximum sentence for second-degree murder in New Mexico is 21 years. In addition to the prison sentence, Ninth Judicial District Judge Benjamin Cross added three years of supervised probation.

Cross also gave Webb credit for the 659 days she spent in jail while her case proceeded through the court system.

Cross' sentence included 15 years in prison for second-degree murder, plus three years for tampering with evidence in mishandling Hardin's body, and three years of probation for fraud, because she had told people her grandfather had been placed in a nursing home and later that he had died of natural causes, and later, that he had asked her to take his life.

Webb had been caring for Harden at his home near Sumner Lake.

When Harden's body was found, Andrea Reeb of Clovis, acting as a special prosecutor, reminded the court on Friday, Harden's mouth and wrists were found to be duct-taped.

After Harden's body was discovered in October 2020, police arrested Webb in Florida.

In arguing for the maximum sentence to be imposed, Reeb alleged cruelty in Webb's slaying of her grandfather and in the mishandling of Harden's body by placing it in a tool box and dumping the tool box "in a trash pit."

Reeb also said Webb's subsequent lying to the community and law enforcement showed a lack of remorse, as did her attempted escape to Florida.

Webb's defense attorney, Tomas Benavidez, said Webb's conduct while in jail has showed that she is trying to improve herself.

"She's been in jail for a year and nine months," Benavidez said. "She's had a lot of time to think about what she did. She has been seeking help."

Benavidez noted that while in jail, Webb has taken life skills and parenting classes to help her be a better mother to her 6-year-old daughter, and has performed community services.

She even helped a fellow inmate who was having breathing difficulty, he said.

Webb's time in jail, Benavidez said, has made her "a changed woman."

Benavidez said Webb should be sentenced to probation only, and that her year and nine months in jail should be sufficient time in incarceration.

Tommy Harden, A.J. Harden's son and Webb's uncle, told the court, "doing time is wasted time," but said the elder Harden was loved by his family and was having difficulty due to age and cancer.

Webb read a letter to the court that expressed remorse for her crimes against her grandfather and other things she had done.

Reeb read a letter to the court from Webb to her boyfriend in which she called herself a "psychopath" incapable of remorse and indicated she was considering suicide.

Cross said he considered three factors in passing down the sentence.

First, he said, was "retribution and punishment," and he would go by existing legislation, taking into account the crime and mistreatment of Harden's body.

Second, he said, was deterrence, the message the sentence would send to the community about the crime.

Third, he said, was rehabilitation.

Addressing Webb, he said, "You have been working hard to become a better person. I think you are remorseful. I think you have shown you can be rehabilitated."