Bodycam shows Isaac Apodaca’s interview after woman murdered with swor

Police in Santa Fe discovered a gruesome murder scene when they responded to a call at a residence in October 2022, finding a woman dead and a blood-covered sword nearby.

Officers were dispatched to a home on October 29, 2022, where Isaac Apodaca and his girlfriend, Kiara McCulley, lived in a detached garage on her mother’s property.

FILE – In this bodycam video from Oct. 29, 2022, Isaac Apodaca speaks with Santa Fe police officers. (Santa Fe Police Department)

When police arrived, they witnessed McCulley fleeing from the garage. Inside, they discovered the body of Grace Jennings alongside a long sword covered in blood.

Apodaca told police that McCulley was responsible for Jennings’ death.

“I walk in and she tells me, ‘I did it.’ I look at the ground and I see someone dead and I see an ear hanging,” Apodaca told officers during questioning.

During her interrogation, McCulley initially claimed she couldn’t remember what happened but admitted she was angry that Apodaca had invited Jennings to stay with them. She also revealed having previous dreams about harming Jennings.

“Sometimes I would kill her. Sometimes I would torture her. Sometimes it was just me screaming at her,” McCulley told investigators when asked about these dreams.

Both McCulley and Apodaca claimed they had previously been in relationships with Jennings before dating each other. The investigation uncovered text messages that allegedly show the couple conspiring to kill Jennings.

FILE – Kiara McCulley (Santa Fe Police Department)

When confronted about these messages, Apodaca said, “She was messaging me on planning on how to kill her.”

The officer responded, “Who?”

“Kiara, I was sending the message back only in correspondence cause I wanted to sleep,” Apodaca replied.

In February 2025, McCulley pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges in exchange for testifying at Apodaca’s trial. She faces 30 years in prison, reported KOB.

Apodaca initially signed a plea agreement but his attorney later ripped up the document during a hearing, stating his client no longer wished to accept the plea offer. He faces trial later this year for coercing McCulley in Jennings’ murder.

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Woman pleads guilty in sword murder case

By KOB
Updated: February 11, 2025 – 11:21 PM
Published: February 11, 2025 – 11:12 PM

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Woman pleads guilty in brutal sword murder

SANTA FE, N.M. — The Santa Fe woman accused of brutally killing one of her romantic partners with a sword has pleaded guilty.

According to police, Kiara McCulley nearly decapitated Grace Jennings in the garage of her mother’s home back in 2022. Jennings was just 21 years old.

Investigators said McCulley and her boyfriend, identified as Isaac Apodaca, were romantically linked with Jennings.

McCulley pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder in exchange for testifying against Apodaca. Apodaca is accused of coercing McCulley into killing Jennings.

McCulley faces 30 years in prison – twice the time a second-degree murder charge normally carries. The deputy district attorney said the extra time is for the brutality of the murder.

N.M. Woman Is Killed with Sword — and Couple Is Charged with Murder amid Claims of Secret Society

Kiara McCulley, 19, allegedly told police that her boyfriend, Isaac Apodaca, 25, kept telling her to kill Grace Jennings, 21, so she “could get ranked up in her platoon,” the criminal complaint says

By 

KC Baker

Published on November 4, 2022 03:57PM EDT

A New Mexico couple is facing murder charges after allegedly stabbing and nearly decapitating a 21-year-old woman with a sword, say authorities.

On Oct. 29 at 1:44 p.m., officers were called to a Santa Fe home on a report of a possible homicide, the Santa Fe Police Department said in a statement.

Upon arrival, officers found the body of a young woman, later identified as Grace Jennings, in a detached garage on the property, police said.

According to the criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE, Jennings’s body showed “several injuries consistent [with] being cut or stabbed with a sharp object.” Her body also appeared to have injuries “consistent with attempts to decapitate.”

Officers also found what appeared to be a bloody sword inside of the garage, according to the complaint.

On Sunday, police arrested Kiara McCulley, 19, and her boyfriend Isaac Apodaca, 25, and charged them with one open count of first-degree murder in connection with Jennings’ death, say police.

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They are also charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, online court records show.

McCulley is also charged with tampering with evidence.

They have not yet entered pleas.

According to the complaint, Apodaca’s mother, Linda Montoya, told police that her son said he “found his girlfriend killing another female in the garage.” Apodaca then called 911 and alleged his girlfriend killed someone with a sword, the complaint says.

When officers arrived, they saw a woman later identified as McCulley run inside the back door of the house and shut the door, the complaint says.

After the couple was taken in for questioning, authorities determined the suspects and the victim had slept in the same bed on the night of Jennings’ death.

The complaint states that both Apodaca and McCulley had prior romantic relationships with Jennings. But McCulley said she was angry with Jennings, claiming Jennings had watched her allegedly being raped by “16 or 17 males” and “collected money” during the incident, the complaint states.

In an interview with The Santa Fe New Mexican, Santa Fe Police Capt. Aaron Ortiz confirmed that a sexual assault was reported in 2020 “but not with the details that [McCulley] claimed during her interview.”

Of the night of the killing, McCulley allegedly said she had mental health challenges, and she’d “had a period of time where she could not remember what had happened,” according to the complaint. But according to the complaint, she allegedly said she was “partially hopeful” Jennings was dead.

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She allegedly told detectives she had “fantasized multiple times” about killing Jennings in particularly disturbing ways, according to the complaint.

Claims of a ‘Secret Society’

Apodaca told police he had nothing to do with Jennings’ slaying but that McCulley had allegedly been planning to kill her since 2020, according to the complaint.

But detectives found suspicious messages on his phone, allegedly indicating otherwise.

One of the messages he allegedly sent to McCulley said, “Remember, you’ll move up the perks in the black market since this is your first,” the complaint says.

He also wrote in another message, “I am wanting you to kill her, you have to end your suffering by ending her joy,” according to the complaint.

When detectives asked him about this, Apodaca replied, “I do mean what it says in that text,” and allegedly admitted he meant that he wanted McCulley to kill Jennings.

McCulley told detectives that Apodaca “is in charge of a secret organization called ‘Ghost,'” which “gets rid of people who are in charge of sex trafficking or hurting kids,” the complaint says.

She said Apodaca “kept telling her to kill Ms. Jennings so that [McCulley] could get ranked up in her platoon,” the complaint says.

She said at one point she had “a dagger in her hand and was trying to stab Ms. Jennings but didn’t do it,” according to the complaint.

When the detective asked McCulley if she killed Jennings, she replied, “I’m not sure,” the complaint says.

Police say the investigation is ongoing.

It is unclear whether Apodaca or McCulley have retained attorneys who can speak on their behalf.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help defray the costs of the funeral for Jennings.