Accused nun killer charged in Cottonwood assault case

"The accused killer of Catholic nun Marguerite Bartz has been indicted for allegedly beating a Cottonwood Chapter man several hours after attacking Bartz, according to indictments handed down Jan. 26 by a federal grand jury in Phoenix.

Reehahlio Carroll of Navajo, N.M., and Bennie Lee Holtsoi, of Chinle, were charged with assault resulting in serious bodily harm for the Nov. 1 beating of Frankie Burbank, 50, of Tsélaní/Cottonwood Chapter.

Carroll, 18, is accused of killing Sister Marguerite Bartz while burglarizing her home in Navajo, N.M. He faces three charges including first-degree murder and remains in federal custody in Albuquerque. Bartz died of injuries received late Oct. 31 or early Nov. 1, according to police.

Carroll was arrested Nov. 5 in connection with her death.

Holtsoi, 19, was arrested Jan. 6 in connection with Burbank's assault. Information developed by investigators in the Burbank case led them to charge Carroll in that case, as well as providing a narrative of his actions in the hours following Bartz's attack.

On Jan. 28 Holtsoi pleaded not guilty to beating Burbank. As of press time Wednesday, Carroll had not entered a plea in that case.

In the criminal complaint against Holtsoi filed Dec. 14 in Flagstaff, law enforcement personnel reported interviewing him and Burbank on Nov. 12. Burbank said he left his residence approximately 7 a.m. on Nov. 1, a Sunday, and walked to Cottonwood.

On his way back, Burbank heard a vehicle approaching from behind, he told investigators. Then he was hit from behind and grabbed around the neck by a man he didn't know. Burbank fell to the ground and then another unknown male kicked him in the head.

Finally one of the men grabbed his wallet and took his boots, and then the assailants left him on the side of the road, Burbank told police.

Burbank got up and walked the rest of the way home and told his aunt what had happened. She helped him get to the Chinle hospital, where he was examined and then transferred to Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix.

The hospital record, later obtained by the FBI, shows that Burbank suffered a right eye wall fracture, a nasal fracture and acute brain hemorrhage.

His assailants were later identified by police as Carroll and Holtsoi.

When law enforcement officials interviewed Holtsoi about the Burbank assault, Holtsoi allegedly confessed to beating Burbank and identified Carroll, whom he knew only by the nickname "Psycho," as the main assailant.

Holtsoi provided a chronology of events beginning around 5 a.m. on Nov. 1, when he said three males picked up him from his Chinle residence in an SUV.

Holtsoi told investigators the group drove around Chinle and Many Farms throughout the morning, drinking and picking up and dropping off various individuals.

According to Holtsoi, at some point he, Carroll and two females headed for Cottonwood to party. While driving there, Carroll saw a man - Burbank - walking on the side of the road. Carroll stopped the SUV, jumped out and ran to the man, wrestling him to the ground and punching and kicking him in the face and head, Holtsoi said.

Holtsoi told investigators he too exited the vehicle and joined in the beating. He punched Burbank's face approximately two times, kicked Burbank's ribs approximately three times and kicked Burbank's face and head approximately two times, he said.

According to Holtsoi, Carroll punched Burbank in the face approximately five times and kicked his face and head approximately five times.

When a law enforcement official asked Holtsoi why he and Carroll had beat the man, Holtsoi said, "For the enjoyment."

Investigators also interviewed the passengers, Florentia Naiz and Lambert Nez, who allegedly witnessed the assault.

Naiz told police she and Nez accompanied Holtsoi and Carroll, the driver, in a beige SUV and were headed to a windmill near Cottonwood to party. Carroll spotted a man walking along the road, stopped and attacked him.

After Carroll and Holtsoi finished with their victim and resumed the drive, she said Carroll kept yelling, "I'm a crazy (expletive), I'm a bad (expletive), you can't (expletive) with me."

Upon reaching the windmill, Carroll got the SUV stuck on some rocks, then climbed into the passenger seat and passed out, Naiz told police. Holtsoi, Naiz and Nez walked to a nearby house to ask for a ride back to Chinle, she said.

Bartz's body was discovered later that morning in her convent residence in Navajo. The beige 2005 Honda CR-V that was in her possession was missing and reported stolen. The Navajo Nation Police recovered the vehicle the following day, Nov. 2, in Cottonwood.

At the time of its recovery, officers noted that the airbags appeared to have been deployed. The side curtain airbags had been cut out, according to the criminal complaint filed Nov. 6 against Carroll in connection with Bartz's death.

The Carroll complaint also stated that on or about Nov. 3, law enforcement personnel interviewed Holtsoi - whom Cottonwood area residents had identified to police - in connection with the discovery of Bartz's SUV in Cottonwood.

At that time, Holtsoi said a person nicknamed "Psycho" had picked him up the morning of Nov. 1 in a Honda CR-V. Holtsoi said he believed Psycho's first name was Reehahlio. Carroll was later identified through a computer records search.

Carroll was to face trial for Bartz's killing Feb. 1 but his court-appointed lawyer asked for more time and a new trial date has not been announced.

Holtsoi remains in federal custody at Native American Connections, a behavioral health center in Phoenix. His trial on the Burbank assault is scheduled for May 4 in Prescott, Ariz.

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