Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
ALBUQUERQUE – A Shiprock man admitted to breaking into a home and killing a man who tried to stop him from attacking another resident.
According to court documents, on June 27, 2025, Armondo Paul, 25, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, went to a home in Shiprock, New Mexico. He shut off the electricity to the home, then kicked open the back door and assaulted one of the occupants. When a second occupant, John Doe, attempted to intervene on behalf of the first occupant, Paul stabbed Doe in the neck with a kitchen knife Paul had brought from his own home. John Doe died at the scene from the injury Paul caused.
Paul pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. At sentencing, Paul faces up to life in prison. Upon his release from prison, Paul will be subject to up to five years of supervised release.
Acting U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Justin A. Garris, Special Agent in Charge of the Feder-al Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.
The Farmington Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Nation Police Department and Department of Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary C. Jones is prosecuting the case.
This press release was posted November 13, after the end of the federal government shutdown.