Antonio Perez

In the quiet agricultural village of Hatch, New Mexico, known for its world-famous chiles, a violent crime shattered the local peace in the autumn of 1994, leaving a mystery that has endured for decades. The identity of the victim, a young Hispanic man who went by the name Antonio Perez, remains as unknown as that of his killer. He was 23 years old at the time of his death.

On the evening of Saturday, October 8, 1994, the man known as Antonio was in his rented room at a local motel. An unexpected knock came at the door. When he opened it, an assailant forced their way inside. The confrontation was brutally short. A single gunshot rang out, and the attacker fled into the night, leaving the young man gravely wounded. He had been shot once in the chest.

When authorities arrived at the motel, they found a man whose life was fading. Despite immediate medical attention, he succumbed to his injury. The investigation fell to local law enforcement, likely the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office or the New Mexico State Police, with the state’s Office of the Medical Investigator taking charge of the official cause of death and identification. The case was quickly ruled a homicide, but the trail for the suspect went cold almost immediately. There were no arrests, and no persons of interest were ever publicly named.

Investigators were left with the difficult task of identifying a man who seemed to have few local ties. People who had interacted with him believed his name was Antonio Perez and that his birthday was August 22, 1971. This information, however, could never be officially verified, and he became a John Doe. His physical description was recorded in the hopes that someone, somewhere, might recognize him. He stood approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed 138 pounds. He had brown hair, brown eyes, and a mustache. His body showed healed scars on the outer parts of both elbows.

At the time of his death, he was dressed in a blue shirt, black jeans, and a black leather belt. He wore distinctive black and white high-top tennis shoes. In his pocket, investigators found just $10.18 in cash, a small sum that offered no clues as to his background or the motive for his murder. Was it a robbery gone wrong, a personal dispute, or something else entirely? Without knowing who he was, investigators could not explore the avenues of his life that might have led to his death.

Decades have passed since the fatal encounter in that Hatch motel room. The world has changed, but the fundamental questions of this case remain unanswered. Who was this young man who called himself Antonio Perez? Where did he come from, and what brought him to the small village of Hatch? And who was the person who knocked on his door with fatal intent that October night?

The case of the man known as Antonio Perez is now a cold case, a silent file in the records of New Mexico law enforcement. His fingerprints, physical characteristics, and DNA profile, if available, are the only voice he has left. As of today, his official identity remains unknown, and his killer has never been brought to justice, leaving a lingering shadow over the quiet community and a name that remains a placeholder for a life violently cut short. The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator can be reached at (505) 272-3053 for any information regarding this case.