Man kills three family members at home in Tijeras, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office says

TIJERAS, N.M. (KRQE) –  A 24-year-old man killed his family in Tijeras on Sunday, according to court documents. Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to 55 Young Road around 2:14 p.m. after the landlord who lived next door to the home reported hearing gunshots.

While at the home, deputies found Adlai Mestre with a gun, ammo, and covered in blood. While they detained Mestre, he unpromptedly admitted that he killed his family and was going to bury them, according to the criminal complaint.

“Adlai continued to make excited utterances and statements to deputies before detectives arrived. Once detectives arrived, they considered Adlai was making delusion statements,” said BCSO Sheriff John Allen at a news conference on Monday.

Deputies discovered Mestre’s father, Raymundo, 46, mother, Bertha, 51, and 17-year-old sister, Breille, facedown in a ravine about 50 yards from the house. Mestre told deputies in an interview that he killed his family in the home, dragged the bodies outside, and tried cleaning up. He also told deputies that he shot and killed his dog because he said the dog was “ravenous,” per court documents.

When deputies were searching the home, they found a knife and a meat tenderizer hammer near the front door with what appeared to be blood on them. Investigators also wrote in the criminal complaint that Mestre’s family members were shot and possibly stabbed.

While Mestre was in the BCSO interview room at the main substation, he wrote down notes that included mentions of “seismic waves” and details about how he shot at cell towers and had thermal imaging on his house.

At one point, a deputy monitoring the camera in the BCSO interview room at the main substation allegedly saw Mestre punch and kick a hole in the wall. Mestre was then able to escape through it.

Deputies chased him down the hall and once again took custody of him, according to court documents.

Mestre is charged with three open counts of murder in the first degree, five counts of tampering with evidence, one count of extreme cruelty to animals, one count of escape from the custody of a peace officer, and one count of criminal damage to property.

BCSO Sheriff Allen disclosed at the news conference on Monday that Mestre went to Haven Behavioral Hospital of Albuquerque in the past year for an undisclosed reason.

Allen also said the gun found at the scene belonged to Mestre’s mother and was obtained legally in Texas.

Detectives are investigating the killings and are awaiting the autopsy reports for the victims.

Watch Monday’s news conference with BCSO below:

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