New Mexico man calls 911, admits killing his landlord 15 years earlier: “I don’t want to live life anymore without confessing”
Police officers found Tony Peralta earlier this month sitting on a curb not far from the convenience store in a small southeastern New Mexico community where he borrowed a cellphone – so he could call 911 and confess to killing his landlord 15 years earlier.
Sweating and taking puffs from his cigarette, he told them he’s tired of covering it up, tired of living with the lie and tired of being overwhelmed by guilt. He agreed to take the officers to where he buried the body before standing up and volunteering to be cuffed.
Police in Roswell released the 911 recording and nearly an hour of officer body camera video in response to a records request filed by The Associated Press. The May 1 footage shows Peralta repeatedly thanking the officers for picking him up.
“I confess, man. I confess. I don’t want to live life anymore without confessing,” he said while sitting in an interview room at police headquarters.
The uniformed officers and detectives who talked with Peralta peppered him with questions about when the killing happened, how he did it and why. Peralta kept answering that he didn’t know or didn’t remember, acknowledging that he had been drinking “a lot” the day he called 911.
Peralta, 37, was arraigned Tuesday on a charge of first-degree murder but did not attend the hearing. He pleaded not guilty to the charge through his public defender, Ray Conley, who declined to comment after the hearing. Conley has said he will ensure Peralta’s due process is respected as the case moves through court.
A judge on Tuesday also set Peralta’s trial for October but said that date could change.
At times, the authorities had asked if Peralta was making up the story and leading them on a goose chase since he wasn’t providing many details, other than saying he had killed someone a long time ago.
“There’s a dead body in there, dude!” he told one officer while in the back of a patrol car parked in front of the home where he once was a tenant of 69-year-old William Blodgett. Peralta said he’d feel better once the body was found.
Investigators said they obtained a search warrant and found a boot, bones and dentures after removing plywood floorboards from a detached room on the side of the house.
The dentures were compared with Blodgett’s dental records – obtained in early 2009 after he was reported missing – and that led to a positive identification, according to police.
CBS affiliate KRQE-TV reported Blodgett’s son reported him missing in January 2009, saying he had not been seen since Christmas Eve. Court records reveal police used a cadaver dog on the property days after he had disappeared. According to a police report, a witness told police Blodgett had accused Peralta of stealing his wallet and tried to evict him. But, according to the report, neither the police dog nor Peralta gave provided any leads and police closed the case the station reported.
A tearful Peralta told police he didn’t know why he had killed Blodgett. At one point, police video shows him putting his head down onto a table during an interview and sobbing.
Peralta told police he decided to come forward because “his heart hurts” and that he thought about it every day. He told an officer that Blodgett was a good man and that he took his life for no reason while high on methamphetamine.
“I don’t have an excuse,” he told police. “A lot of people have an excuse. I don’t have one.”
Blodgett’s girlfriend and family had not seen him since late December 2008. She told police that Peralta, who was considered a suspect by police early on, allegedly had some sort or argument or fight with Blodgett, who had tried to evict him.
Authorities at the time had talked to Blodgett’s family, friends and neighbors and visited the home the two men shared, which appeared to have been abandoned with personal belongings still in place. Police found no immediate signs of foul play and Blodgett’s vehicle was still there, according to the original missing person report.
Detectives would periodically drive by the house but never spotted anyone.
Police said the case went cold after investigators exhausted all leads until Peralta’s 911 call.
Peralta said he wanted to confess because of his own family and the detective told him he was helping Blodgett’s family too, KRQE reported.
“Tell them that he was a good man, and I shouldn’t have done what I did,” Peralta said. “He was always good to me, and I took his life for no reason, and I don’t have an excuse.”
‘He was a good man’: Guilt-ridden Roswell man confesses to killing landlord in 2008
by: Ann Pierret
Posted: May 23, 2023 / 05:32 PM MDT
Updated: May 25, 2023 / 07:58 AM MDT
ROSWELL, N.M. (KRQE) – A 14-year-old missing persons case is now closed after an out-of-the-blue murder confession. Tony Peralta called 9-1-1 on May 1 to tell Roswell Police he killed his landlord in 2008.Why a prosecutor argues accused child abusers should get a deal
Dispatch: Sir, tell me exactly what happened.
Peralta: Well, I killed somebody.
Dispatch: You killed somebody?
Peralta: Yessir.
Peralta borrowed a stranger’s phone to make the casual confession that Monday afternoon.
Dispatch: And who is the person that you killed, Tony?
Peralta: His name is Bill.
Bill’s full name is William Blodgett. Roswell Police took a missing persons report on him more than a decade ago.
Peralta called from an Allsup’s gas station parking lot around the corner from the police station that Monday afternoon. KRQE obtained body camera footage showing police arriving to speak with Peralta. He was calmly sitting on the curb when multiple patrol cars pull up.
“I’m just tired of covering up for it,” he told an officer. “I’m tired of living with my lie, sir.”
Peralta mentioned this happened years ago, so he cannot remember too many details. But, he agreed to take the officers to where he buried Blodgett. Without being told, Peralta stood up and put his hands behind his back to be handcuffed. As he walked to the arresting officer’s patrol car, Peralta thanked the officers he passed. “Thank you, guys, for coming,” he said. That was the first of many “thank yous” from Peralta throughout the investigation.
When speaking one-on-one with a detective, Peralta admitted to taking blood pressure pills and a drink to get up the nerve to come forward. The detective confirmed he was still okay with speaking to them. Peralta made it clear he wanted to confess. He told them the murder happened at Blodgett’s house. “I was on meth really bad,” he explained. “And I killed him ’cause he wouldn’t give me no money. And I buried him in his house.” When this happened, Peralta lived there with Blodgett, according to police. In his early twenties, he rented a room in Blodgett’s house.
Because he could not remember the address, Peralta drove with an officer and detective to East Fifth Street to help locate the crime scene. Once there, he explained he buried his landlord in what looks like a room added onto the home.
Now that police had the exact address, they matched it to an old missing persons report on Blodgett’s disappearance. It shows they were suspicious of Peralta then and even searched the house.
“Why didn’t they smell his body in there,” Peralta asked the officer.
“I don’t know,” he responded.
It’s a good question. Blodgett’s son reported him missing in January 2009, saying he had not been seen since Christmas Eve. Court records reveal police used a cadaver dog on the property days after he had disappeared. And, a detective interviewed Peralta because a witness told police Blodgett had accused Peralta of stealing his wallet and tried to evict him. But, the report states, neither the dog nor Peralta gave police any leads. They closed the case.
While Peralta does not remember many details, he does know exactly where he buried Blodgett. He instructed the officers to pull up the floorboard on the left side of the room and dig.
Sure enough, with a shovel and flashlights, the officers got to work and eventually realized Peralta was telling the truth. First, they located a boot. When they take a closer look and see it has bones in it, their dig stops. They need a search warrant.Cattle guard conspiracy? New Mexico ranchers claim county, neighbors want their land
At this point, Peralta was driven back to the police station to answer more questions. They gave him dinner and started trying to get more information out of him, but Peralta said he did not want to talk anymore. He began crying, letting go of 14 years of guilt.
“I know this is probably a big, hard decision you had to make,” the detective said to Peralta. “You’ve been thinking about it for a while?”
“Every day,” Peralta said.
The detective does not get much information from Peralta in this interview. Peralta repeatedly explained he could not remember anything; but, he did admit to using a screwdriver to kill the 69-year-old.
Peralta said he wanted to confess because of his own family. The detective told him he was helping Blodgett too.
“Tell them that he was a good man, and I shouldn’t have done what I did,” Peralta said. “He was always good to me, and I took his life for no reason, and I don’t have an excuse.”
Online court records show since 2009, Roswell Police arrested Peralta four different times for non-violent crimes. He is now charged with first-degree murder for killing William Blodgett. The dentures police dug up in Blodgett’s home were used to confirm his identity.
