Police: Los Ranchos judge, former Los Alamos councilor killed by husband in murder-suicide
Nov. 28—Many questions remain after an apparent murder-suicide in an Albuquerque community that took the life of a prolific public servant and activist.
Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque Municipal Judge Diane Albert, 65, was shot in her home Friday afternoon, police believe by her husband Eric Pinkerton, 63, who then presumably shot himself.
Bernalillo County Sheriff's deputies located the two dead in their home Friday "along with several dead animals," a sheriff's office news release states.
"Eric Pinkerton is believed to have shot his wife and several animals in the house before shooting himself," the news release states.
Deputies checked the residence after a friend of the couple alerted them about "receiving a troubling message" from Pinkerton on Friday, according to the release.
Albert leaves behind a long legacy of public service in Northern New Mexico.
In 2021, she was elected municipal judge of the village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque.
While she most recently lived in Los Ranchos, Albert has earlier ties to Los Alamos, where she worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory for 10 years and taught at University of New Mexico-Los Alamos for two years. Albert also served on the Los Alamos County Council from 2001-04.
Albert was a recipient of The New Mexican's 10 Who Made a Difference award in 2002, partly for her work developing elementary school-level engineering programs for students in Española, Pojoaque, Los Alamos and White Rock.
Having come from a family of fifth-generation dairy farmers in Ohio, Albert told The New Mexican in 2002 that she particularly liked to encourage young women in those schools with aptitude in math or science, saying "Look, I'm just like you. I came from a rural community, too. You can do it."
She was also president of the League of Women Voters of Los Alamos in 1996 and 1997 and won the Governor's Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women in 1996, 2000 and 2003.
Most recently, Albert managed a private law practice that specialized in patent law and intellectual property.
She also helped to run a nonprofit called Bicycle Coalition of New Mexico, over which her husband, Pinkerton, was a director.
Pinkerton referred to himself as a "bike shop owner and chicken farmer" on his LinkedIn profile, having worked as a manufacturing technician at Intel Corporation until 2014.
Friends and community members expressed shock and sorrow on social media after news of the incident spread.
"We are heartsick hearing of the untimely death of Diane Albert, our elected municipal judge," Los Ranchos de Albuquerque Mayor Don Lopez wrote in a news release. "She was a longtime Los Ranchos resident, a brilliant mind, and a friend. We can't ignore that this happened on the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women. Our thoughts go out to her family and all those affected."
State Auditor Brian Colón posted a tribute to Albert on Facebook, referring to her as a "dear friend, the good doctor, public advocate and servant."
"So many thoughts, but so few words," Colón wrote. "I turned down the station that wanted me to go to camera to speak about Diane. Just couldn't do it. Diane always entered our home with a smile and usually wearing her bicycle helmet. What a loss."
