The suspect in the apparent death of a Roswell man who went missing in 2018 has pled not guilty to three criminal charges.
Deputy District Attorney Timothy Wyatt confirmed Tuesday that Alfonso Reyes Vasquez Jr., 36, of Roswell, pled not guilty to one count each of first-degree murder, tampering with evidence and receipt, transportation or possession of a firearm or destructive device by a felon during an arraignment Monday in New Mexico's 5th Judicial District Court in Roswell.
Court records indicate that New Mexico 5th Judicial District Judge James Hudson scheduled a trial in the case for Oct. 31. Vasquez is currently being held in pretrial detention.
Police say that Vasquez is alleged to have fatally shot 39-year-old Freddy Bersane on Sept. 18, 2018, while the two men, along with Vasquez's girlfriend and a third man, were doing drugs in a bedroom at the 500 block of South Kansas Avenue residence where Vasquez lived with other people. Court records state that witnesses said Bersane was shot after saying something offensive about Vasquez's girlfriend.
To date, Bersane's body has not been found, though court documents indicate some individuals questioned by police, including an inmate who was serving time with Vasquez at a federal penitentiary in Colorado, alleged that Bersane's body had been dismembered and disposed of after the killing.
Blood from a stain found on the carpet of the bedroom where the shooting is believed to have happened was later found to match that of Bersane. Investigators also determined the amount of blood needed to create such a stain was from an injury that would have led to the death of a person who did not receive immediate medical treatment.
Other evidence in the case included a magazine from a Ruger .380 firearm hidden underneath the blood-stained carpet. The magazine matched the caliber of the firearm that police found in October 2018 while executing a search warrant on Vasquez's Chevy Tahoe.
When questioned by police days after Bersane's disappearance was reported, the criminal complaint states Vasquez admitted to knowing Bersame and that he had visited the Kansas Avenue home on at least three occasions, including in hours leading up to the shooting. However, he denied having killed Bersane.
He explained to police that the day before Bersane went missing, the house was filled with people, but that he had left the house. Vasquez claimed when he returned to the house, no one was there. Vasquez added that he assumed people had been in his room while he was out because he found what was later determined to be a blood stain on the carpet.
