New Mexico judge and her pets shot dead by her husband in suspected murder-suicide, police say

A judge in New Mexico and several of her pets were shot dead in what police believe was a murder-suicide carried out by the woman’s husband.

Police found the bodies of Diane Albert, 65, Eric Pinkerton, 63, and “several dead animals” inside their home on Ranchitos Road in Los Ranchos De Albuquerque on Friday after a friend of the couple received “a troubling message from Eric Pinkerton,” said a tweet from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities believe Pinkerton shot Albert and the animals before turning the gun on himself, the sheriff’s office said.

ABC affiliate KOAT of Albuquerque reported that a dispatch from a sheriff’s deputy stated: “He left a voicemail to his friend stating that he murdered his wife and his dogs and his cat. And he is about to murder himself.”

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Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office public information officer Jayme Fuller confirmed the dispatch to NBC News.

Fuller added that the last domestic violence-related 911 call from the couple’s residence was in January 2019.

Albert was a judge in Los Ranchos Municipal Court, NBC affiliate KOB of Albuquerque reported. She was a practicing patent attorney who had previously served as a planning and zoning commissioner for the North Valley area, Los Alamos County commissioner and president of the Bike Coalition of New Mexico, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

A friend of Albert told the local newspaper that she had recently re-enrolled at the University of New Mexico to study French.

A university representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Local officials mourned Albert’s death.

State auditor Brian Colón posted a tribute to Albert on Facebook.

“Diane always entered our home with a smile and usually wearing her bicycle helmet. What a loss,” Colón wrote. “Rest in peace and know you spread goodness near and far.”

“We are heartsick hearing the news of this senseless tragedy,” Los Ranchos Administrator Ann Simon told the Albuquerque Journal.

Simon called Albert “a brilliant mind, and a friend.”

“We can’t ignore that this happened on the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women,” Simon added, referencing an annual observance established by the United Nations in 2008.

The killings marked the third fatal incident of domestic violence in the Albuquerque area on Thanksgiving weekend, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or the threat of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline for help at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or go to www.thehotline.org for anonymous, confidential online chats, available in English and Spanish. Individual states often have their own domestic violence hotlines as well.

Advocates at the National Domestic Violence Hotline field calls from both survivors of domestic violence as well as individuals who are concerned that they may be abusive toward their partners.