New Mexico judge and her pet shot by her husband in suspected murder-suicide after friend received ‘disturbing text’
- A New Mexico judge, her pet and her husband were recently found dead in what police call an apparent murder-suicide
- Diane Albert, 65, and Eric Pinkerton, 63, were found dead along with ‘multiple dead animals’ on Friday
- A friend of the couple reported receiving ‘disturbing messages’ from Pinkerton before their bodies were discovered.
A New Mexico municipal judge and her pets were killed in an apparent murder-suicide by the judge’s husband just hours after a friend of the couple received a ‘disturbing text’.
Authorities said the bodies of Diane Albert, 65, and Eric Pinkerton, 63, were found in their home on Friday, along with several dogs and a cat.
Officers from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office found the two when reporting their home in the 800 block of Ranchitos Road for a welfare check.
Jamie Fuller of the sheriff’s office said law enforcement believes Pinkerton shot the animals and his wife before taking his own life.
Diane Albert’s body was found along with her husband and several dead animals inside their New Mexico home on Friday
Law enforcement officers were seen at the scene with several crate boxes of animals
Fuller said a friend of the couple contacted the sheriff’s office just before 4 p.m. after receiving a “disturbing message” from Pinkerton.
A post from the law enforcement agency read, “Deputies were contacted by a friend of the deceased after receiving a disturbing message from Eric Pinkerton.”
In the message the friend said, Pinkerton said he had shot his wife and dogs and was going to kill himself.
‘He left a voicemail for his friend saying he murdered his wife and his dogs and his cat. According to KOAT, a dispatch message said, and he is about to kill himself.
Albert was a municipal judge for the village of Los Ranchos, which borders Albuquerque, and a former planning and zoning commissioner for the North Valley community.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, he also served as Los Alamos County commissioner and as president of the Bike Coalition of New Mexico.
Investigators arrive at the scene in the 800 block of Ranchitos Road in Bernalillo County
Inside, deputies find the bodies of Albert and Pinkerton, as well as several dead animals.
New Mexico State Auditor, Brian S. Colon remembered his friend on a Facebook page on Saturday.
Colon described the municipal judge as ‘a kind soul who always uplifted me and others.’ She said she ‘always entered our home with a smile and usually wore her bicycle helmet.’
Los Ranchos administrator Ann Simon also remembered her friend, calling the woman a “brilliant mind.”
Simon said, ‘We are shocked to hear the news of this senseless tragedy.’
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office shared this post after Albert and Pinkerton’s bodies were discovered on Friday
‘Diane Albert, our elected municipal judge, was a longtime Los Ranchos resident, a brilliant mind and a friend.
“We cannot ignore the fact that this happened on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women,” the administrator said.
Joe Craig, a neighbor and former co-worker, said news of her death and word of the incident shocked him and others.
‘Just a nice, nice lady,’ said Craig. ‘I never saw him with a lousy bone in his body.’
The matter is under investigation by law enforcement.
