Cops Open Son’s Freezer & Immediately Arrest Him
“He thinks I’m a witch. See, he’s doing that right now.”
“All those are witches, bro.”
“If you keep letting him in, he’s going to hurt you.”
“Cuz if you want to kill me, he going to kill me. But that’s what I’m afraid of.”
After an elderly woman fails to heed an officer’s ominous warning about her son, Albuquerque police fear the worst when her face appears on missing person’s posters. But nothing could prepare them for the twisted story behind her disappearance or the horrifying discovery waiting for them.
“She’s in the freezer.”
The following is based on official police records to date, and some of the footage has never been seen before until now. Please note that all persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, on October 28th, 2025, a care worker contacts police for a welfare check after receiving an unusual call from the son of one of her elderly clients. Over a week earlier, the same woman, 69-year-old Ernestina Lucero, had been reported missing by her niece. Officers arrive at the home Ernestina shares with her son. But despite knocking several times, they get no answer. They instead turn to the neighbors who share their own concerns.
“He was saying a bunch of things about her leaving New Mexico with her boyfriend, um, and that they were on a speaking basis right now. And then like a couple days later, he came in and he’s like, ‘Hey, by any chance, do you want to buy my car? I’m trying to make money for rent.’ That’s what he said.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Like two weeks ago.”
“And you haven’t seen her in a couple weeks?”
“Yeah, I haven’t seen her in.”
According to the neighbor, the dark gray Chevy Camaro belonged to Ernestina and was not his to sell.
“They were fighting before she left. I know. That was my next… They were fighting before, uh, she left. Uh, I know there was a couple nights where they were going at it. I have a 2-year-old and stuff, and I’ve asked him to, you know, just take it down a little bit and he’s… he’s threatening to fight him because we’ve asked him to take it down. He’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m homie.’ Uh, he said he’s…”
“He was going to say she went to Mexico, but did she barely walk?”
They add that her son, identified as 49-year-old Leroy Vallejo, should be home. They try knocking several more times, but he doesn’t answer.
“Leroy, you need to come out, man. We’re not going to go away. Come on, man. Yeah. Come on. Just come to the front door.”
“Sorry, man. I thought you were someone else, dude.”
“You mind if I step in and talk to you real quick?”
“Yeah. Yeah. No problem.”
“Can I step in and talk to you?”
“Oh, yeah. Yeah. Come in. I just see.”
“Dogs friendly?”
“Yeah. They bite. I mean, they bark. They don’t bite, man.”
“Okay.”
“Yeah.”
“Can I shut the door so you don’t run? Uh, my partner’s coming in, too.”
“Okay.”
“It’s been a rough two weeks, man. Sorry about that. I’ve been…”
“What’s been going on?”
“Uh, mom’s missing, man, with college work. I’ve been overstressed, tired, you know what I mean? Trying to get some rest, man.”
“Okay.”
“Exhausted from worrying. You know what I mean?”
“How long… How long?”
“Like the 15th or something.”
“15th.”
Leroy allows the officer to go into Ernestina’s bedroom in order to search for any clues that may help them locate her. There, the officer finds a dresser and closet full of her clothing, as well as medications prescribed to Ernestina—items she likely would have taken with her. Meanwhile, his partner continues speaking with Leroy in the living room.
“So, we’ve got calls.”
“I had an appointment with the detective tomorrow, too.”
“Which detective?”
“Spinx. Spinx.”
“Stephanie Spinx. Yeah, I’m not letting you talk to her. I’m trying to help, too, man. Okay, I’m going to tell you like my mom had some dude trying to get at me or something and, uh, but I’ve never came at her the same way.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like, uh, dudes that harass me and stuff, but, uh, I’ve never went at her like that. You know what I mean?”
But this is far from the truth. Two years earlier, in November of 2023, Ernestina contacted police after an incident with her son allegedly escalated to violence.
“So, what happened today?”
“I don’t know. You’re killing my dog. I’m not… think I’m a witch. See, he’s not me right now.”
“So, did he get… did he get physical or anything?”
“A little bit, but he didn’t, you know, really hurt me. Um, he pushed me on the bed and, uh, I could choke me down, you know.”
“He said he was going to choke you.”
“Well, he put his hand there and I pushed him off. So, if he really wanted to hurt me, kill me, he would, you know.”
The officer advised Ernestina that the best course of action was to issue a summons and take Leroy to court on battery charges, but she was against the idea.
“I just want him to get medical help. He should be in a mental hospital.”
“You don’t want to press charges?”
“No, I want him… I can get you in…”
“…at this point with the way he’s been behaving the last few days, it’s just getting worse to the point where if you keep letting him in, he’s going to hurt you.”
“I want him to get help. I really do, cuz he needs it bad because he’s already, you know, twice attacked me. And like I said, he been wanting to kill me. He would kill me. That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Now, 2 years later, Ernestina has vanished.
“This has been going on for years. You know what I mean? And I’ve never once raised a hand to her. You know, this last time I just told her, you know, ‘I’m just tired of your lies. I don’t believe you, man. I don’t even think we should be around each other.’ It disgusts me cuz we used to be close.”
“Okay.”
“So, yeah. Like I said, I got an appointment with the detective tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“And I’m trying to help, man. I don’t know how they just paint me out to be the bad guy cuz I… unfortunately we live together, you know. She’s a grown woman. She’s seen some dude Jose. I don’t get in her business, dude. You know.”
“Okay. And how long was she seeing Jose or Angel for?”
“Uh, I’m not sure. Uh, years, man. They were together for a while, dude.”
“When did they recently break up?”
“Uh, no, they broke up a while ago. It was, uh, 2-3 years ago.”
If Ernestina and her boyfriend broke up several years ago, Leroy’s claim that the pair went to Mexico together is that much harder to believe. Little do they know, Leroy is harboring more than one dark secret. And one of them is about to come to light. After leaving Ernestina’s bedroom, the officer heads toward the kitchen.
“You can move that. I got that there for the dog. They pee by the fridge and, uh, there’s like rats living at the bottom. I want that pee. You know what I mean?”
“Oh yeah. Yeah.”
“Getting in there and mixing with the rats and causing a mess, man.”
The officer digs through the clutter, pushing food aside until he sees black trash bags at the bottom. As he begins lifting them, a horrifying realization sets in.
“What do you mean the first week? Like, uh, week after 15 to 17…”
“What’s up, boss?”
“Let’s step outside.”
“All right.”
“Go and put your hands behind your back, right?”
“She’s in the freezer.”
“I know. Hey, I know. Man, be quiet. I know Frank if I sor…”
Since the dogs can’t be allowed to roam what is now a crime scene, they let them stay in the back of the cruiser with Leroy.
“Take that away rest of my life, buddy. I’m sorry guys, okay? I’m sorry guys.”
A sergeant soon arrives and is quickly brought up to speed. The officer then checks on his colleague.
“You right?”
“Yeah, freaked the hell out at first… but yeah.”
“Okay. Yeah.”
“Yeah.”
“I was… Yeah, I was not expecting.”
“I wouldn’t… I expected that either. I mean…”
“I didn’t believe my eyes.”
“I thought it was 31 right off the bat. But yeah, let’s wait for the CS. Uh, cuz I don’t want to be… I want them here to help make the determination and then I’ll get my eyes on it cuz I’m going to…”
“She’s like wrapped in a black trash bag, but it’s clearly the outline of a body.”
“I wanted to turn myself in probably the first couple days. Guarantee she wouldn’t listen. She wouldn’t stop. She wouldn’t change. I tried everything, dude. Pleasing, begging, praying, nothing.”
Leroy waits for nearly 4 hours while the crime scene is processed. Finally, animal control arrives to take custody of his two dogs and informs him they’ll be placed on a 14-day hold. Leroy is brought into an interrogation room where he will soon share a chilling story full of unexpected twists. Before they begin, the detective asks him if there’s anyone who can collect his two dogs from the animal shelter.
“Telling you, man, I have nobody.”
“I know that a lot of your, um, you feel like a lot of your family members are kind of mixed up in all this. Is there anybody…”
“Mixed up in that? A lot of people be surprised. Is there anybody that you… that you trust?”
“Probably not. I don’t know where you guys live, but all that whole world we live in.”
“Mhm.”
“A lot of swing that way. You know what I mean? A lot of witches ain’t anything.”
In an attempt to understand more about Leroy’s mental state, investigators speak with his brother and sister-in-law. His brother explains that Leroy suffers from delusions that may be connected to illicit substance abuse.
“He was pretty normal. Like when he was… when he was not anything, like he kind of stuck to himself a little bit, but he would kind of have conversations with us normally, you know. Um, and then when he was… the reason I’m assuming it was meth that he was on, or maybe is coming off of it, whatever, he was a lot different person.”
Ernestina brought up similar concerns during the incident with Leroy that occurred 2 years before her death.
“I thought he was going to be like he usually is in the morning, going to be nice and everything, but then he started… ‘I was cleaning the dog, but I’m not cleaning the dog.’ You know, ‘I’m a witch.'”
“Okay. Well, I know we were out here yesterday as well cuz it’s still kind of…”
“Yesterday.”
“He’s freaking out a little bit saying maybe like meth related. You think? You know, he was telling me that, uh, that she was hanging out with some bad people and that, uh, our mom had promised our souls to the devil, like mine and his, you know. And, uh, that, I mean, he went into the whole, uh, when he was, uh, married to his ex-wife. He saw a demon having sex with her. He said that Angel, my mom, and my grandmother had a devil baby or demon baby in the house that they saw… that he saw that they were going to sacrifice or something, you know. I’m sure they’re all from the same coven, dude.”
“Okay.”
“That is real, man. I know how it sounds, but all those mothers are witches, bro. You know, it’s funny how they all start calling on the Lord. You know what I mean? They all do the same. They start calling on the Lord wanting justice and I had all them evil just like that. The first sign of trouble, they’re the first ones to call the cops and know what I mean. Get down and start praying to God. You do it. ‘Oh, you’re a rat,’ and you know what I mean? But they’re the first to start doing it.”
Leroy’s brother believes there could be another reason for his delusions, recalling a tragic incident he supposedly suffered years ago while hitchhiking in Roswell, New Mexico.
“So, he got in the car with him to get a ride. And I guess what had happened is they took him to like a house somewhere and I guess a bunch of guys beat him up, right? And then they cut him, that’s why he’s got that scar. So, they just took a knife and cut him. They ran over him with a Ford Bronco. So, he had, uh, shattered hips and his lungs were collapsed and they left him in the field to die. Um, and then somebody that was either in the area or saw what was going on had a bit of a conscience whatever, called 911, you know, and said there’s a guy in the field basically. So they took him and had to fly him to Lubbock and he was there for a while but like I said was like, you know, like a football. He was so beat up.”
“No kidding. It’s a bad like…”
“Yeah.”
“…brain injury.”
“Yeah, that would be my guess. That’s why I think started to intensify all this stuff, you know.”
“Gotcha. Gotcha.”
“You see people killing their people, their parents for crazy, bro. Why is she trying to kill me every day of my life, dude?”
According to police records, Leroy believed his mother, working in concert with other conspirators, had spent the last 17 years waging a campaign of intimidation and harassment against him. Though it wasn’t captured on camera, according to police records, Leroy admitted that before he attempted to dismember his mother, he first strangled her.
“During it, I was just like, ‘Why couldn’t you just leave me alone? What did I ever do to you, man? I love you. Do everything I could for you.’ I don’t know. I said, too, but I got nothing to hide from you guys or anybody. You know what I mean? I’m a man, dude. I can admit to whatever I do.”
But what he’ll soon admit goes far beyond what investigators could have ever imagined.
“After you killed your mother, did you… you said you waited a couple days before trying to cut her up?”
“Yeah. To let the blood thicken.”
“Yeah, that’s what I heard. But I really didn’t want to do that.”
“Where was she when you did that? Like, where’d you leave her?”
“I put her in the freezer.”
“Okay. You left her in the freezer.”
“I told you I put her in there and I left her in there. She just on top and never looked at her again.”
“Until you try.”
“It still bugs me, you know.”
“Mhm.”
“It still bugs me. I don’t even want to see her, you know. I… I love her. Hey, I don’t care what nobody says. I always love her.”
According to police records, the care worker who requested the welfare check on Ernestina had become concerned when Leroy contacted them asking to receive pay for her care.
“One thing we found, I don’t know if this… this isn’t related, but that we didn’t know about, I guess, we found the medical paperwork in her apartment in 2019 that stated that she was like, uh… progressive dementia. Okay. And that she could, uh… I guess the letter was so she could get into assisted living if she… we didn’t already have dementia, you know what I mean? So it’s like probably why my brother was getting paid by the state to take care of her.”
After he called to request the money, he was transferred to Ernestina’s case manager. It was then that Leroy disclosed she was missing.
“I did tell him it’s disturbing how you’re pushing on your pay when your mom’s sick. Sick. And then he was like… ‘or mom’s missing,’ right? I mean missing. And then he was like, ‘Well, am I going to get paid or not?’ And I said no. So then the call dropped there.”
Leroy’s brother also shared his mother’s banking information with detectives, revealing that Leroy continued to access and use her bank cards.
“A nightmare stopped. I have nightmares every night. They stopped at least. But still, it wasn’t worth it.”
“When did the nightmare stop?”
“I don’t know. I guess when I killed her, they stopped instantly. I finally slept. I haven’t slept for over 30 minutes in 17 years. I keep giving up. It’s a trip. I don’t know, man. Say it’s witchcraft that she had witchcraft on me. I don’t know if she did. It’s not something you could prove. You know what I mean?”
During the investigation, detectives identified Ernestina’s ex-boyfriend, the man Leroy had earlier claimed went with her to Mexico, as Jose Angel Frias. But as they dug deeper, a disturbing pattern began to emerge. Jose had also vanished. With a Spanish-speaking officer assisting as a translator, an investigator was able to reach Jose’s brother by phone.
“So, he said that he’s been looking for him for 3 years. He knows that. Yeah. Yeah, he worked at a Hilton Hotel here in Albuquerque. That’s about all he knows.”
“Okay. You want to tell him that we’re also looking for his brother?”
“No, but tell him we’ll start looking into it.”
Leroy’s brother claims he only met Jose a couple of times and he has no idea where he is now. As far as he knows, Jose left Ernestina years ago.
“I don’t think he got along with my brother too much toward like sometimes like he just, you know, they… their personalities. And I think like with my brother with his paranoia, you know, he probably thought that Angel wanted to kill him too, probably. I don’t know. Um, so maybe they didn’t get along so well. That’s probably part of the reason that that Angel guy like left.”
But as Leroy’s interrogation continues, he makes a damning admission regarding the missing man and the last time he ever saw him.
“…when he was in bed. He was just…”
“Was he asleep?”
“Yeah, he was till I shot him the first time and he woke up.”
“Where did you shoot him?”
“I… I never shot no one before like that. So I got a pillow and I pulled it with a gun. You know the pillows you sleep on?”
“Mhm.”
“And when I shot it, when he broke, it got stuck screaming. The worst scream I’ve ever heard in my life that a man made.”
“Mhm.”
“It was awful, bro. I thought for sure I’d never killed no one after that.”
“Then what happened?”
“I didn’t know what to do. I had to pull my pillow off. Then I had to rack it again and then I shot him again. Boom.”
“Where’d you shoot him that time?”
“I thought I shot him in the head twice.”
“Okay.”
“I don’t know. One that hit him in the head. Like I said, it was a big old pillow. He was laying down.”
“What happened after the second time you shot him?”
“He shot him. Stop making that noise.”
“And he was… he was dead then?”
“Yeah. I don’t know. I don’t know. I felt really bad about that. E, when I did that, I had nightmares about that.”
Leroy claims that his mother was in the living room at the time and must have heard the gunshots coming from the bedroom.
“She came in about the second time I shot him. She goes, ‘What did you do?’ And I turned around and I pointed a gun at her and I… I was like, ‘It should be you, too, man.’ I call the cops. I threw a gun down. I said, ‘Call the cops.’ Hey, she’s… ‘I can’t have you in prison. I need you.'”
“And then what happened?”
“My life went on.”
“You cut him up.”
“She took me to Lowe’s and bought… it was going to be a chainsaw cuz I never cut nobody off. Mhm. But, uh, I remember I did some work for a… a company for a couple years and I think cut through everything.”
According to police records, a search warrant was executed on Leroy’s apartment in which they located a reciprocating saw with what appeared to be dried blood stains on the blade. It was found under the kitchen sink.
“Did you use the same saw all that way?”
“He threw that one away. But after we use it, my mom likes to keep everything. She wanted to keep it.”
“Did you put Jose in the freezer at all?”
“Yeah, I put my freezer, too. By the way, I can’t remember how… how quick we did it. She helped me. I don’t know why I told her to call cops. She wanted to hide the body. That’s probably why I sold my soul to Satan. You know what I mean? Who knows?”
“How long did it know?”
“God wouldn’t talk to me. Eh.”
“Who was the one that… who was cutting?”
“We both did.”
“Both of you.”
“I did most of it though. Cuz told me to, you know, I’ll do whatever she tells me to. I didn’t ask her about killing him cuz she wouldn’t let me. But I was going to kill her that way. But I couldn’t… I couldn’t open myself to do it. So I figured maybe she’s trying to take me out because I know… I… she thinks I’m gonna say something. She knows I wasn’t, you know. I don’t know, man. It started getting like… like way worse, man. I wish I could bring her back. All the bad she’s done to me. I would do anything to bring her back. I’d even trade places with her.”
According to court records, 49-year-old Leroy Vallejo was indicted on an open count of murder as well as tampering with evidence and abuse of a resident resulting in death. He entered a plea of not guilty. After an evaluation, Leroy was determined to be incompetent to stand trial and was committed to the New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute for treatment aimed at restoring competency. Jose Angel Frias remains listed as a missing person on the New Mexico Department of Public Safety website. As of now, Leroy’s statements regarding his and Ernestina’s role in Jose’s disappearance remain unsubstantiated.
