Two young men dead in murder-suicide

Murder-suicides are rare on the Navajo Reservation but one occurred July 7 in LeChee Chapter, according to a witness.

Navajo Nation Police were called to Tso's Trailer Park to check out reports that gunshots had been heard in the area. Police found two bodies at the site - Kelly Curtis Joe, 21, who lived seven miles northeast of the Gap Store, and Truman Tracy, 24, of LeChee.

A witness, William Tunney, 44, of LeChee, said he was at his horse corral near the trailer about 4 p.m. when he heard three gunshots coming from the trailer. He saw Joe run from the trailer, followed by Tracy, and heard three more shots.

Tracy then appeared to shoot several times into the ground and around the trailer, he said.

Tunney said he then saw Tracy put the muzzle of the gun under his chin and fire but the gun did not go off. He then placed the muzzle under his right ear and fired again. This time the gun went off.

Joe was found slumped over the southeast corner of the trailer with a gunshot wound to his forehead.

Police found a semi-automatic weapon at the scene.

3 arrested in Round Rock robbery

Police have arrested three men in connection with the July 9 robbery of the Round Rock Trading Post.

The three have been identified as Garrison Gorman, 21; Charles Yazzie, 19, and Jerelo Jim, 18, all from the Chinle area.

According to a press release issued by the Navajo Nation Police's Chinle District, the robbery occurred about 4 p.m. when the trading post manager was held up at gunpoint by three men wearing masks.

They demanded the cash from the register and after receiving it they ran out of the building and got on horses, heading toward a nearby arroyo.

Using tips from community members as well as footprint evidence, the police soon realized who was responsible and arrested them without incident and recovered most, if not all, of the money, the release said.

All three have been charged with armed robbery.

Shiprock woman shot

A Teec Nos Pos Chapter man is facing federal charges in connection with the shooting of a Shiprock woman on July 7.

Navajo Nation Police received a report about 8 a.m. that a couple was fighting in a low-rent unit in Shiprock. As officers headed to the scene, dispatchers updated the report by saying that a shotgun was involved.

When police got to the scene, they were escorted to a bedroom in the house where they found Cassandra Nez, 35, and William Belin, 57. Nez had been shot in the left shoulder with a bullet from a .22 caliber rifle.

Belin was arrested by the FBI and taken to the Farmington Adult Detention Center.

ATV accident injures four

A decision to enjoy the warm summer sunshine in Teesto Chapter ended up with four people, including two children, being taken to area hospitals with injuries July 6.

Two ATVs were involved in the accident, according to police. One was driven by Saraphina Clark, 37, of Teesto, Ariz., accompanied by a 12-year-old girl. The other was driven by Deway Clifton Yazzie, 21, of Teesto, and carried a child of undisclosed age.

The two ATVS were traveling side by side on a road when they apparently got too close, resulting in one ATV veering off to the right while the other went out of control and rolled.

Saraphina Clark was airlifted to Flagstaff while Yazzie and the minor on his ATV were transported to Winslow for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

Police reported that none of the four was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.

Alcohol involved in Shiprock stabbing

A stabbing occurred July 3 in the Shiprock area.

It began with a drinking party and four men, according to police. Two began arguing and this escalated into a physical fight.

Police said Ryland Benally, 25, of Kirtland, N.M., grabbed an old machete and use it to strike the left side of Toledo Alden Begay's forehead. Begay, 32, from Yah-Ta-Hey, N.M., was injured when the machete slid down the side of his face. He was also stabbed in the forearm, according to police.

Benally was also injured in the fight and police said that after both were treated and released from the hospital in Shiprock, they were booked into the Shiprock tribal jail.

Alcohol, texting involved in rollover

Tocito, N.M., residents got a graphic reminder June 21 that texting and driving are not compatible activities.

Navajo Nation Police were called to Navajo Route 5 near Burnham, N.M., where they saw that a sport utility vehicle had run off the roadway.

Conan L. Caesar, 31, had been driving west when he went off the roadway. He overcorrected, causing the vehicle to go into a lateral slide. When it hit the soft dirt on the side of the road, it rolled multiple times, ejecting the driver and two passengers - Samantha Caesar, 23, of Tocito, and a 3-year-old child.  Audrey Johnson, 22, of Shiprock, was still inside the vehicle when police arrived.

Witnesses told police that Conan Caesar was texting before the accident. Police also said all of the adults had been consuming liquor at the time.

Numerous cans of alcohol were found in the debris surrounding the vehicle. No one was wearing seatbelts and the child was not in a child restraint seat. Conan Caesar was transported to Farmington and the rest were taken to the Shiprock hospital.

Big pot bust on I-40

A Navajo Nation Police officer and his K-9 partner are being credited with a July 10 arrest on Interstate 40 near Sanders, Ariz., that netted 900.8 pounds of marijuana.

Police stopped Albertr Ammerman and Shannon Lewis, no ages given, of Remer, Minn., near milepost 339 on a routine traffic stop. The officer reported seeing signs of criminal activity and when he asked to inspect the car, the driver refused to give permission.

The officer then deployed his K-9 partner, who alerted him to the trunk, where he discovered marijuana that had been compressed and wrapped in brown paper. Police arrested Ammerman and Lewis and confiscated the dope.

Renzi associate guilty of embezzlement, conspiracy

TUCSON - Dwayne Lequire, 51, of Elgin, Ariz., was found guilty July 8 of eight counts of embezzling insurance premiums and one count of conspiracy in connection with an alleged scheme to funnel money to former Arizona Rep. Rick Renzi, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Each count of embezzling insurance premiums carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to a July 9 release by the U.S. Department of Justice, testimony at the trial that began June 22, Lequire has been the treasurer of Patriot Insurance Agency Inc. since 2004. Patriot Insurance was formerly owned by Renzi, and is currently owned by his wife.

The indictment alleged that from 2006 to 2009 Lequire embezzled insurance premiums held in trust and directed those premiums to Renzi's personal accounts, and that he conspired with Renzi to do so. The evidence at trial showed that Lequire embezzled $796,000 and directed it to Renzi, including, in June 2006, a payment of $263,000 from which Renzi paid federal income tax and purchased multiple airline tickets for his family.

The former general counsel of Patriot Insurance, Andrew Beardall, was tried jointly with Lequire on charges that he made false statements to insurance regulators in 2002 and 2003, after Renzi had allegedly engaged in an earlier embezzlement of insurance premiums to fund his first congressional campaign. Andrew Beardall was acquitted on all counts.

Lequire and Beardall are the second and third of Renzi's alleged co-conspirators to face trial. In June 2008, a federal jury in Sherman, Texas, convicted business partner James W. Sandlin of two counts of making false statements to a financial institution.

Renzi and Sandlin have not yet stood trial on extortion charges arising out of multiple federal land exchange efforts in 2005.

Lequire remains free on his own recognizance pending his sentencing scheduled for Oct. 18.

Bylas man sentenced for assault

PHOENIX  - Jerald John Dillon, 27, of Bylas, Ariz., a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, was sentenced July 8 to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty April 15 to assault resulting in serious bodily injury, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

On March 9, 2009, Dillon and the victim were socializing and consuming alcohol on the San Carlos Community. During a brief argument, the victim dared Dillon to hit him. Dillon picked up a length of 2 by 4 wood and struck the victim in the head, causing serious injury to the victim, including a moderate skull fracture.

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