On the evening of April 17, 1980, 31-year-old Patrolman Richard Gomez of the New Mexico State Police was killed while on duty near Coyote, New Mexico. Gomez, a ten-year law enforcement veteran and U.S. Navy veteran, stopped a vehicle about one mile west of the community on suspicion the driver was intoxicated. The driver, 60-year-old Modesto Martinez, produced a .22 caliber handgun and fired a single shot that struck Gomez in the left shoulder and severed a major artery. Emergency aid was provided but Gomez died of the wound. He was survived by his wife and two children.

Martinez remained at the scene, surrendered, was arrested, and charged in connection with Gomez’s death. He was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and on February 21, 1981, a judge sentenced him to 13 years in prison. Did anyone in the area remember Patrolman Gomez or notice anything about that stop or Martinez that night?