Three men accused of impersonating officers during fatal shooting of Capitan man in July
Sep. 4—Four people are accused of killing a Capitan man in late July, including three men who pretended to be police officers during the incident.
Daniel Hernandez, 29, Gabriel Thyberg, 41, and Samuel Duran, 30, of Roswell are charged with an open count of murder, armed robbery and impersonating an officer. Duran is also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Benisha Shanta, 33, of Albuquerque was charged with accessory to murder, but that has been upgraded to an open count of murder. She is also charged with armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
New Mexico State Police spokesperson Ray Wilson said Shanta was arrested in El Paso on Aug. 5, Hernandez was arrested in Roswell on Aug. 6. Thyberg and Duran were arrested in Albuquerque on Aug. 9 and Aug. 30, respectfully.
According to court records, on Friday, Duran is slated to have an initial appearance while Thyberg and Shanta are scheduled for arraignments. Hernandez waived his preliminary hearing.
Court records state that Hernandez had a status conference scheduled for October for an aggravated fleeing of an officer (no injury or great bodily harm) charge. In 2022, a jury acquitted Thyberg of first-degree murder.
According to a criminal complaint filed at Lincoln County Magistrate Court, at 8:52 a.m. on July 28, the Capitan Police Department responded to a call of a person who was injured and "possibly shot." When officers arrived, they saw two people unsuccessfully perform CPR on a man — later identified as Nathan Ogden, 44 — who was dead.
Police said a witness told them that two masked men — who identified themselves as police officers — made their way into their trailer. She told police she and Ogden were then forced to the floor at gunpoint. Ogden then got up and ran to the back door as one of the men looked for a bag of drugs and cash.
The complaint states that after finding the bag and money, the woman told police she and a neighbor found Ogden shot and bleeding in their bedroom closet.
Police said earlier that morning, surveillance showed a woman — later identified as Shanta — getting out of the vehicle then knocking on the door. "It appears whoever answered the door was familiar with the female since she was immediately let inside the home."
Police said three men then got out of the vehicle armed with AR-style rifles with faces covered with masks and bandanas and shirts with "RPD" on them. One of the men wore a tactical vest. As they approached the front door, the woman ran back to the car. Several minutes later, one of the men left and stood outside the back of the vehicle, appearing to be speaking with the woman.
According to the complaint, several minutes later, all three men fled in the car.
The complaint states that police later found several firearms — including a rifle used during the shooting, and three black T-shirts with white lettering that read "RPD "on the front and "Police" on the back — inside Duran's home.
According to a pretrial motion, Shanta told police that Hernandez was one of the three men to fatally shoot Ogden and the one to oversee the disposing of the firearms and clothing worn during the shooting.