EXPOSE’: The Murder and Cover-up of a Small Town Girl; Tera Chavez

PART 4 OF 5 in THE EYE ON ALBUQUERQUE EXPOSE'

PART 4: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE/A SACRIFICE IS MADE

DUE TO THE GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION CONTAINED IN THIS ARTICLE: VIEWER DESECRETION IS ADVISED. 
 

According to the weather almanacs, the weekend of October 21, 2007 was a warm one. The daytime temperature for both days peaked at about 84F and in the evening it dropped to a cool 44F. One might have had a cooler on during the day but not likely, and they certainly would not have had one on at night.

From about 7:30pm Saturday October 20th till sometime after midnight on October 21st, Levi Chavez's whereabouts were unknown and not confirmed by any witnesses, despite being a police officer.

However, Tera was at her home on Ash Place in Los Lunas. Sometime that evening, Tera had plans to meet somebody for dinner but that dinner, for whatever reason, ended up in the trashcan. Since it was supposed to be Levi she was to meet, and a neighbor reports seeing an APD police car back out of the driveway, it was in all probability Levi Chavez. 

Tera then changed into her pajamas, climbed under her covers, and watched television flipping through channels with the remote in her right hand. In her room, various pictures of her family sat on the dresser and night stand. It’s easy to visualize a picture of one of her children’s’ new born pictures… A picture of both of them. Next to the newborn picture sat a formal picture of Levi Chavez as a new Albuquerque Police Department officer.

Ironically, after clearing a domestic violence call on Central and taking the suspect back to the substation at 7:44pm, Levi's task were straight forward:

1) Tagging a tape (time allotted for this task; five minutes).

2) Writing two-page misdemeanor domestic violence report and criminal complaint (time allotted for this task; thirty minutes).

Perea then transported the suspect to the PTC where personnel there took custody of him at about 9:35pm.

While Tera had fallen asleep with the TV on and all the houselights off, the remote in her hand and her index finger outstretched, sometime after 11pm, in front of pictures of her children the killer walked up to her with Levi Chavez’s APD issued 9mm Glock, thrust the gun into her mouth almost into her esophagus and fired a single round. The 9mm bullet penetrated her brainstem and did not exit. Death was instantaneous.

The gun was shoved into Tera’s mouth with such force and rage that it chipped one of Tera’s teeth. Levi Chavez’s defense wanted everyone to believe that Tera was some type of contortionist and flipped the gun around and up-side-down to place it in her mouth.  The gun was forced so far back into her throat that her “gag reflexes” would have rejected the object far before it could have went in so deep and discharged.

Was there a conversation between the killer and Tera?  Was this murder the act of domestic violence? Was this murder partially part of a revenge plot? What would be the motive for such a plot?  Did the murderer tell or threaten Tera with killing or hurting her children? Was Tera forced to allow the murderer “carte’ blanche” to kill her to save her children?  For most people they will do anything to protect their children from harm. Was this the case with Tera Chavez?

Tera’s nightmare was over in a split-second. Tera's dreams of being free from the terror, horror, pain and hurt that Levi Chavez had caused, was finally over. Her new reality was not the one a loving and caring mother wanted. Did Tera give her life to save her children from a monster who now has them anyway?  Was Tera’s sacrifice of death given in vein?

The killer left the scene, but like all violent encounters between two humans, there were details present. Details that were not consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot and details consistent with the actions of a killer.

-There was no “outgassing” spray of matter and/or fluid on the bed, on her hand, or on her face after the gun was fired.

-Tera's eyes remained closed.

-Her head and upper torso sloped to the right.

-Tera's velvety hair was fanned out across the bed and not crinkled up, or folded under her head, as it should've been had she slid sideways. Tera’s placement appeared staged.

-The gun's muzzle remained almost free of biological material.

-The casing remained on the bed, but not in a position consistent with where it should be if the gun were fired in an orientation proposed by Levi Chavez. Due to the gun’s action, the gun casing will send the empty bullet casing a certain direct each and every time. The position of the bullet casing is consistent with the gun being forced into Tera’s mouth by a murderer and not the up-side-down theory of Chavez’s defense.

-Nor were there lacerations on the tongue that would be present from the sudden action of the slide exploding back and chambering a new round while resting on it.

-There was a burn ring on Tera’s tongue.

-The APD issued gun lay cradled in Tera's armpit mere inches from her face with the muzzle pointing up to her head.

-Its magazine unseated.

-No powder burns exist on her hands, and her undamaged nails remained delicately manicured.

-There was no DNA located on the gun which is consistent with the weapon being cleaned off before it was placed by the murderer.

-The magazine of the gun was unseated. Dead people cannot unseat a gun magazine only a live person like the murderer could accomplish this task. This probably occurred when the weapon was being sanitized by the murderer.

-There was no cell phone on the bed or nearby.

-There were no tissues on the bed.

-There was no note on the bed.

And lastly, the children were due home on Sunday.

But the plans for the children to be safe at home with “Mom” would be changed and Levi had to get up to Debra Romero's house. She lived on Purcell NE, up near Spain NE and Juan Tabo NE. That was straight up I-25 and across Albuquerque. A 40-mile drive from Los Lunas but Levi had plenty of time to rob his children of their mother; he just needed to be sneaky about it… 

Here is another question that must be asked: what if APD’s Chief of Police, Ray Schultz, would have had a policy that prohibited adultery/infidelity?  Would this have prevented this murder or did Schultz’s failure to act or his condoning of extra marital affairs contribute to Tera’s murder?

 

In the final segment of this series we will wrap up all the loose ends, answer several unanswered questions and the picture will be clear.