Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Sipes being retried in burning death case

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

Testimony began Monday in the murder retrial of a woman charged with the burning death of an Albuquerque woman nearly three years ago.

A jury was selected Monday morning for the trial of 33-year-old Patricia Sipes, who is facing charges of second-degree murder, kidnapping and aggravated arson. Sipes is being tried again for allegedly participating in the burning death of 45-year-old Barbara Valdez Lumsey in November 2005.

In May 2007, a jury acquitted Sipes of three counts of conspiracy, but District Judge John Pope declared a mistrial after jurors couldn't agree on the remaining charges. This week's trial is expected to last five days.

Sipes is one of six defendants who were charged in connection with Lumsey's death. All but Sipes have either been found guilty by a jury or have entered into plea agreements with prosecutors.

Two months after the jury announced that they were deadlocked, the court asked them to return to clarify their verdict regarding the murder charge. The jury told the judge that they had all agreed that Sipes was not guilty of first-degree murder, but couldn't come to a consensus on second-degree murder. Pope then dismissed the first-degree murder count.

The difference between a first- and second-degree murder is determined by the degree of intention. To find a defendant guilty of first-degree murder, a jury must find that the person deliberately premeditated the killing. To convict a person of second-degree murder, a jury must believe that the defendant's acts created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm to that individual or another.

During Sipes' first trial, prosecutors alleged that Sipes drove Lumsey's car with the victim bound in the trunk to the location where the vehicle was burned. Lumsey's body was discovered by firefighters who responded to the car fire on Alame Loop in Rio Communities.

Prosecutors charged that Lumsey was battered and held against her will in a Rio Communities home for up to 10 hours by Sipes' co-defendant, Angel Esquibel. According to testimony during Sipes' first trial, Esquibel and several other people put Lumsey in the trunk of her own Dodge Neon, soaked it in lighter fluid and set it on fire.

In a taped interview with police, Sipes said that Esquibel asked her to drive the car, but she initially thought that she was helping him get rid of a stolen car. Sipes told investigators that she didn't know about Lumsey until she was put in the trunk.

When Lumsey was found by firefighters, 95 percent of her body was covered with third- and fourth-degree burns. The Medical Investigator's Office determined that Lumsey was alive when the fire started.

Esquibel pleaded no contest last year to first-degree murder, kidnapping, and four counts of conspiracy, aggravated arson, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and tampering with evidence. Pope sentenced Esquibel to the mandatory life sentence — a minimum of 30 years — and an additional 30 years for his role in Lumsey's death.

Anthony Sanchez, 38, of Rio Communities and 22-year-old Jessica Cavasos entered into plea agreements with the state in exchange for their testimony against their co-defendants. Sanchez, who admitted that he stood guard over Lumsey that day, pleaded guilty to charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Cavasos, Esquibel's former girlfriend, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, two counts of tampering with evidence and one count of conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence.

Both Sanchez and Cavasos are still awaiting sentencing.

Sheila Bahney, 49, of Rio Communities, was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder, kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, aggravated arson, conspiracy to commit aggravated arson and tampering with evidence. She is serving a 55-year prison sentence.

Bahney's husband, Thomas, 56, entered a no-contest plea in March 2007 to first-degree felony murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.

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