The deadly case of Mr. Hyde

Rob Stafford Correspondent • Profile

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - August 18, 2005 was a typically warm summer day in Albuquerque. But the forecast called for clouds to move in—perhaps an omen.  

That Thursday started routinely for teenager David Fisher. He headed for his job at Rider Valley Motorcycles.

At age 17, Fisher was a top amateur motocross rider who dreamed of racing professionally. He’d already earned his first commercial endorsement. Parents Dave and Sue Fisher said their son was born to ride.

Dave Fisher Sr., David’s father: [From] out of the womb.  Even if he was eating or sitting still, his wrists never stopped moving. It was almost like he had a handful of throttle already.

Play and work all centered around motocross. He loved his job fixing and selling bikes at Rider Valley, even during the school year.  But just the night before, the teenager told his parents about a disturbing confrontation with a frequent customer.

Dave Fisher: David’s description was this guy really just flipped out and got in his face. Told him he didn’t know who he was messing with that day. 

David Fisher was just one of many people in Albuquerque whose lives would intersect that August day.

Another was Fisher’s co-worker, 26-year-old Garret Iverson, these were challenging times for the newly-married Iverson, whose main job was to repair bikes. The young couple had a new baby boy, and Iverson worked two jobs to make ends meet, but shop owner Gino Pokluda,  says it never seemed to get Iverson down.

Gino Pokluda, shop owner for Rider Valley Motorcycles: Just a really good, competent, trustworthy person I could rely on.  You know, if I need something done, Garret would get it done.

Newly-married young father, Ben Lopez had been married to Sally, his high school sweetheart, for 35 years.  Although he planned to work another 10 years, he was already looking forward to retirement.

Sally Lopez: And then we were gonna go to Rome and just travel. He wanted to do a lot of fishing. He loved to fish.

Officers Richard Smith and Michael King had already tried the retirement which Ben Lopez craved, and decided it wasn’t for them.  The two veteran Albuquerque cops had recently rejoined the force.  Chief Ray Shultz was happy to have them back.

Chief Ray Shultz: Two very respected veteran police officers, both who had retired, left this job then came back because they weren’t done serving our community.

Fitting into the community was always a challenge for 48-year-old John Hyde. Ever since he was a young adult, he had struggled with illness. Recently, he had stopped exercising or grooming himself. His hair was now long and dirty. His brother Robert was frustrated, unable to help.

Robert Hyde, John Hyde’s brother: I really didn’t know what to do.  I had never had any experience with this.

Six people. They were strangers for the most part.  Yet in a matter of 18 hours they would cross paths in a series of seemingly random events that would rock this city to its core.  Later, people would wonder whether those events were really random at all, whether warning signs had been missed, clues overlooked, and whether lives could have been saved.

T.J. Wilham, reporter: Looking at this timeline is like watching the movie "Titanic," you know?  You know the ship is sinking when you read this timeline you—and you just wanna jump in and tell the people this ship is sinking.

The morning began like any other for Ben Lopez.  He had been a state employee for 15 years and had been promoted to supervisor.

Rob Stafford, Dateline correspondent: Do you remember that morning?

Sally Lopez: Oh yeah.  I remember cause that particular morning, for some reason, the coffee maker decided to spill over.  And so we were talking.  And he had his coffee. And he kissed me and said, “I love you.  I’ll see you tonight.”

Dave and Sue Fisher remember that morning too. They were already anticipating the weekend, when their teenage son would compete in another motocross race.

Dave Fischer Sr.: Our day that day was congested trying to get everything rounded up and get home and get some practice time in.

6:30 a.m.  The northwest side of Albuquerque.  The quiet routine of that morning is shattered by a call to 911.

911 caller: My co-worker is laying on the outside of the building, looks like he’s been shot or something. 

The body of a man is found at a state Transportation Department maintenance building.  Reporter T. J. Wilham covers crime for the Albuquerque Journal.

Wilham: They found a man wearing his flourescent yellow or orange construction jacket. And he had been shot. And he was laying in a pool of blood.

It is Ben Lopez, shot in the back, at very close range. Police arriving at the scene find precious few clues.

Stafford: Any signs of a robbery?

Chief Shultz: It did not appear that a robbery or burglary had taken place.

7:03 am. Central Albuquerque.  As the investigation into Ben Lopez’s murder gets underway,  Robert Hyde wakes up to discover something’s wrong with the cars belonging to him and his girlfriend.

Robert Hyde: One of my tires was flat.  And I looked at her car and one of her tires was flat and you could see that they were knifed.

9:00 a.m. Northeast Albuquerque.   As Robert Hyde reports his slashed tires to police, his brother John is at Presbyterian Hospital. John’s been treated at the hospital for years but on this day does not have an appointment. In fact, no one is sure why he’s here.  Whatever the reason, he is clearly upset.

Wilham: Hyde comes in contact with Caseman employees. Some sort of argument erupts. He cursed out some profanities.

9:27 a.m. Detectives begin questioning workers at the transportation department building where Ben Lopez was murdered.  They take particular interest in one employee at the shop, someone Lopez had suspected of abusing his sick leave.

Wilham: Immediately, information comes forward that Mr. Lopez had been in a dispute with another employee the day before. So to them, it made perfect sense that this person would ultimately be their first suspect.

10:29 a.m. Police arrive at Ben Lopez’s home to tell his wife he has been killed, and to see if she can help solve his muder.

Sally Lopez: They had asked me if ben had been having problems with anybody at work.

Stafford: What did you say?

Sally Lopez: The only one I remembered him saying something about was  one that he had written up for calling in sick like on Fridays and Mondays. And they thought he was just taking long weekends.

Grief stricken, Sally does NOT remember a crucial conversation she had with her husband the night before. As she talks with police, Garret Iverson, is opening up Rider Valley Motorcycles on the southeast side of town.  Shop owner Gino Pokluda is there too, concerned Iverson is pushing himself too hard by working two jobs.

Gino Pokluda, shop owner: He just looked tired. And I said, “Garret, you know.  Quit the job. We’ll figure it out.”

Business is slow this day.  But Iverson perks up around noon when his wife and newborn baby come by the shop for lunch. 

Stafford: How did Garret seem when his wife and the baby walked in?

Pokluda: Happy. He was happy to be with his wife and his kid.

12:30 p.m.  As the Iversons eat lunch, John Hyde calls an agency which manages certain health care programs for the state of New Mexico.  According to Reporter T.J. Wilham,  Hyde makes an appointment to talk with his case managers later that afternoon.  It’s an appointment Mr. Hyde will never keep.

Robert Hyde: I was really worried that something was going to happen.  Something bad.

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