Pair shot to death in Fort Sumner
Oct. 4—An Arizona man and his wife were shot to death Sunday at the Fort Sumner home where they'd been visiting, officials said.
The victims were identified as Brian Beaver, 48, and Rachelle Beaver, 38, according to DeBaca County Sheriff Robert Roybal.
Roybal said Kelby Randolph, 53, of Fort Sumner is in the DeBaca County jail, being held without bail and charged with two counts of murder in the first degree.
Roybal said Randolph called the county dispatch center on the non-emergency number around 5:40 p.m. Sunday.
According to court documents, dispatch spoke with Deputy Paul Nunez, telling him that Randolph was requesting a deputy at his home in the 100 block of East Main Avenue in Fort Sumner. Randolph would not say why he needed a deputy.
Nunez arrived at Randolph's house and Randolph came out to speak with the deputy.
Nunez walked in the living room and "noticed two bodies that had been shot, one male sitting on the recliner and one female laying on the floor in front of the male ..."
Nunez noticed a black semi-automatic pistol on the floor next to the female.
Nunez and Randolph went back outside and while there a car pulled up. Nunez and Randolph walked outside the home's fence and spoke with the driver who Randolph identified as Bill Hancock.
Nunez said Randolph told Hancock he was going to jail for murder.
Hancock asked Randolph who he killed and Randolph said, "Free loaders," and pointed to his house. Randolph also told Hancock he needed his lawyer present.
Nunez said Randolph would not give any indication what happened inside the house.
Tenth Judicial District Attorney investigator Shank Cribbs interviewed Gary Wilson, an acquaintance of Randolph, court records show.
Wilson said around 3:55 p.m. Sunday he got a phone call from Randolph asking him to come to Randolph's home.
Once there Randolph gave Wilson a handwritten will leaving everything to Randolph's brother. Wilson said he saw that Randolph was holding a black handgun.
Wilson said Randolph said he was "planning to off himself or go out in a blaze of glory."
Brian and Rachelle Beaver were from Mesa, Ariz. Brian's teenage daughter, Brianna, said her dad left her in August in the care of his mother, Yvette Owens and Brianna's mother.
"He went to Fort Sumner to help a friend with his business," Brianna said.
Brianna said that friend was Randolph.
"My dad was a good man," Brianna said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. "He was always trying to help people out."
She remembers her father loved to fish, and when he had a tow truck he would take her along on tow calls.
"He would take me on his dirt bike," Brianna said was one of her favorite memories of her dad. "Through the neighborhood, the alleyways, by the canals up and down. Riding fast. He was a great family man."
