Police releasing no details of deaths

Neither the FBI nor the Navajo Nation Police are releasing information about what caused the mysterious deaths of a Fort Defiance couple on Nov. 15 at their home.

What is known, via tribal police reports, is that police were called to the Mutual Help Housing unit of Clarence James, 42, and Alice James, 63, about 9:10 a.m. because of a report from Elvira James, no age or address listed, that she found Clarence James in the couple's automobile outside the home.

She said Clarence James was "frozen and unresponsive."

When police arrived, they found a pool of splattered blood on the front door of the house and drops of blood from the house to the truck.

Elvira James told police that her aunt may still be in the house. Because the door was locked, firefighters were called to the scene and they were able to get inside by going through a window.

Once inside, police found the body of Alice James in the bedroom. She also showed no signs of life.

The police report gives no indications of the cause of death and simply states that an autopsy has been ordered.

These are the second and third members of the family who have died mysteriously in the past three months.

Police reported on Aug. 18 finding the body of Lucinda James, 37, at her home in Fort Defiance. No details of her cause of death have been released as yet.

Both FBI and tribal police say the deaths are still under investigation but would give out no more details.

Man dies in vehicle fire

Navajo Nation Police are reporting that a vehicle fire in the China Springs, N.M., area on Nov. 20 claimed the life of a local man.

The victim's name was Billy Boyd. No age was given.

Police said when they were first notified of the fire, they were told that there were two individuals in a van when it caught fire but when tribal police arrived, McKinley County Sheriff deputies were already on the scene and said that there was only one fatality.

Helena Johnson, 31, of China Springs, said there had been several people in the van before it caught on fire but all but Boyd had gone into the house. She said she had gone back to the van to get Boyd when she noticed that the van had caught on fire.

She said she could not get the door open and was forced to break a window on the driver's side. Boyd was not awake and she said she was not able to get him out of the van in time.

She told police that the fire may have started because of a candle that was in the van. She also said that some of the occupants, including Boyd, had been drinking before the fire started.

Police were also given the name of another suspect who family members said had been in an argument with some members of the family before the fire had started.

The matter has been turned over to the FBI for an investigation.

Police seek Littlewater man

Navajo Nation Police are looking for a Littlewater, N.M., man in connection with an aggravated battery that occurred in Crownpoint on Nov. 17 about 12:34 a.m.

Geneva Begay, 30, of Tohatchi, N.M., told police that she was in the car of her boyfriend, Harlan Henio, 27, and they were driving on State Road 371 near milepost 24 when they got into an argument.

She said she finally got out of the truck and started walking away. She saw her boyfriend leave as well but a few minutes later he returned and told her to get back into the truck. She did get in but within a couple of minutes, they began arguing again.

She then got out of the truck for the second time, yelling back at him "I don't need you" and began walking away toward a school parking lot. She had to crawl over a barbed wire fence to get into the parking lot but when she did, she saw Henio's truck drive up.

She told police he forced her back into the truck and as soon as she entered, she grabbed the truck keys, along with some papers and feathers and threw them outside.

As he went out to pick up his belongings, Begay said she was able to escape and made it to a nearby house where she was able to call for police and an ambulance.

Police immediately went to Henio's home where they found the truck but no signs of the owner.

The case is still under investigation.

Police tow semi-trailer

It was a case of police waiting and waiting and when nothing happened, taking action on their own.

It began on Nov. 6 on Navajo Route 26 near Chinle. Andy Jones Mann was driving his semi-trailer down a hill when the air brakes gave out causing him to go into a nearby ditch.

No one was injured and only a small amount of diesel fuel had spilled because the tank was empty. He placed a sign on the truck telling people that no one was injured and not to call police because he was going to come back and tow the truck himself.

But he didn't come back and on Nov. 16, tribal police decided to look into the matter.

They called the Ganado fire department and officials there found that only a small amount of diesel fuel had spilled so the site was dangerous from a  biohazard point of view.

Police got in touch with Mann's wife, Maria, via cell phone, who told them that they were in the process of getting a tow truck to pick it up. So police left.

On the following day, however, when the Mann truck was still observed at the site of the accident, police called Speedy Towing and had it picked up, requiring the owners to pick up the cost of towing and any storage fees.

Wingate High evacuated

Navajo Nation Police were called to the Wingate High School about 8:45 p.m. on Nov. 18 and told that school staff had found a message written on a mirror in the girls' restroom. It said that a bomb had been placed in the school and it would go off at 12:15 p.m.

The school was evacuated and police conducted a thorough search and found no bomb. The school, however, stayed under lockdown until 12:40 p.m. when students were allowed to go back in.

As police were leaving, school staff was trying to find someone who could recognize the handwriting on the mirror.

Flagstaff man sentenced for dealing meth

PHOENIX - Larry Keams Kahn, 42, of Flagstaff, was sentenced to over 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

"This is the largest drug investigation ever conducted on the Navajo Nation - removing more drug peddlers in one case than ever before," said Dennis K. Burke, United States attorney. "We commend the law enforcement agencies involved who worked tirelessly to make this investigation so successful - Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety Drug & Gang Unit, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Flagstaff Police Department."

In 2009, Kahn sold methamphetamine to an undercover officer on three different occasions as part of an undercover operation.

The undercover operation had expanded into Flagstaff and targeted people with a history of dealing methamphetamine in Tuba City.

The operation yielded several Tuba City methamphetamine dealers who were charged federally and had connections with suppliers in Flagstaff.

Following this undercover operation, police arrested 22 people on federal charges. Six defendants have been sentenced, seven defendants are awaiting sentencing, and trials are pending in the remaining nine cases.

Five additional defendants who sold methamphetamine to undercover officers were also sentenced recently on federal charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Defendants included Collette Serena Yazzie, 26, of Tuba City, sentenced to 37 months; Monty Dinehdeal, 35, of Tuba City, sentenced to 36 months; Vicenya Watson, 37, of Tuba City, sentenced to 24 months; Ricky Mitchell Yazzie, 43, of Tuba City, sentenced to 15 months; and Shawn Begay, 25, of Tuba City, sentenced to time served of six months.

Polacca men indicted for 2nd-degree murder

PHOENIX - A federal grand jury in Phoenix returned a one-count indictment against Gene Austin, 30, and Calvin Masaquaptewa, 22, both of Polacca, Ariz., for second-degree murder, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

The indictment alleges that on or about Oct. 14, 2010, within the confines of the Hopi Reservation, Austin and Masaquaptewa, deliberately and intentionally murdered an adult Indian male victim.

Both men are in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

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