Hunsaker trial continued
Naomi Ruth Chandler, a former Miss Aqua Boom and a graduate of Marble Falls High School, is the center of a Taos, New Mexico, trial of her accused murderer Albert Gene Hunsaker II.
By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor
The Highlander
A man accused of killing a former Miss Aqua Boom in New Mexico has had his trial date pushed back from this week to April 10.
Albert Gene Hunsaker II is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in connection with the Jan. 30, 2016, death of 36-year-old Naomi Ruth Chaney, whose body still has not been found.
Chaney, a Marble Falls High School graduate who was born Jan. 30, 1980, had been reported missing after last being seen near Twin Peaks, N.M., on Jan. 30, 2016, which was her 36thbirthday.
A break in the case came when 40-year-old Clayton Vincent Jones was arrested in California on an unrelated murder charge. While being questioned by investigators, Jones admitted his involvement in killing Chaney, the 1997 Kingsland Miss Aqua Boom, near Carson Estates in New Mexico and also named Hunsaker as an accomplice in the crime.
Hunsaker was interviewed by New Mexico police on Thursday, May 5, and told investigators he had been having a sexual relationship with Chaney despite being married to another woman. He said Jones and Chaney picked him up at his home to go for a ride.
According to statements given by Hunsaker, the trio had been drinking on a ridge near the Petaca River when Jones assaulted Chaney. He then put a wench wire around Chaney's neck, had Hunsaker turn on the wench and then drove through the desert, dragging the woman to death. Hunsaker claims Jones threatened to kill his family if he refused to help him kill Chaney.
The two men dumped her body along the river in some brush and left. After being arrested by police, Hunsaker tried to lead them to Chaney's body, but they were unable to locate it.
Hunsaker's trial was originally supposed to begin Monday, Jan. 23, but a motion for continuance was granted on Dec. 7 with a stipulation that the trial would begin April 10, 2017, in the courtroom of District Judge Sarah Backus. Hunsaker is being represented by attorney Anna Aragorn. Prosecuting the case is District Attorney Ronald Olsen.
