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Latest New Mexico news, sports, business and entertainment at 4:20 p.m. MDT

 

  • SEXUAL MISCONDUCT-EPSTEIN

NEW YORK (AP) — Police and court records and victim accounts in the Jeffrey Epstein case describe a sex-trafficking ring designed to protect Epstein from investigators.The jet-setting financier is due in court Monday on a bail hearing on federal charges in New York that accuse him of overseeing an operation that recruited vulnerable teenage girls for sex. He has pleaded not guilty.
The case against Epstein could hinge on testimony from some of his longtime employees. They're not charged but they are accused of recruiting underage girls for him and making the arrangements for them to give him massages that led to sex acts.
The allegations describe encounters with girls brought to Epstein's mansions in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, along with his New Mexico ranch and his private Caribbean island.

  • ROCK CLIMBER-FATAL FALL

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities say a rock climber has died after falling about 140 feet in the Sandia Mountains east of Albuquerque.Bernalillo County Fire Department officials say several people were on a rock-climbing excursion when one climber slipped and fell Saturday morning.
The name of the victim hasn't been released yet.
Authorities say the victim was repelling off the Clandestine Wall on the north side of the Sandia Crest and fell after a possible equipment malfunction.
Numerous law enforcement and search and rescue agencies attempted to recover the body throughout the day but called off the operation around 7 p.m. due to rain and terrain that was dangerous for a helicopter.
They are trying to recover the body again on Sunday.

  • NEW MEXICO HISTORY-EXHIBITION

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Hundreds of items representing centuries of New Mexico history will be on display as part of a new exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum.The items range from letters written by outlaw Billy the Kid to more contemporary objects that are part of the Palace of the Governors extensive collection.
The Albuquerque Museum's curator of art, Josie Lopez, tells Albuquerque television station KRQE that the exhibit is like a journey through time that starts with the 1700s.
The letters by Billy the Kid involve him wanting to testify about a killing that he witnessed in exchange for his freedom. Lopez says one letter was written just months before the outlaw ended up being killed.
Other pieces include an old penny farthing bicycle and classic dresses.
The exhibit runs through Oct. 20.
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  • APARTMENT COMPLEX FIRE-THE LATEST

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A woman is accused of arson in a fire that heavily damaged an Albuquerque apartment complex, displacing residents of 24 units and sending several people to a hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation.KOB-TV and KOAT-TV report that court records say 29-year-old Cherlynn Martinez was arrested on suspicion of arson in the Friday fire and that a sister of Martinez had called 911 to report that Martinez was setting the fire and that the sister had pleaded with her to stop.
There was no indication of a possible motive.
Bernolillo County jail records show Martinez is in custody and online court records don't list a defense attorney for Martinez who could comment on the allegation.
Fire Department spokesman Tom Ruiz said an adult and two young children were in stable condition after treatment for smoke inhalation.
The Red Cross said it was assisting displaced residents.
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  • SEXUAL MISCONDUCT-EPSTEIN-NEW MEXICO

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico ranch owned by Jeffrey Epstein has become tied to an investigation by the state attorney general's office into the financier.New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas' office has confirmed that it has interviewed possible victims of Epstein who visited the sprawling Zorro Ranch south of Santa Fe, where Epstein built a home in the 1990s.
Epstein, who pleaded not guilty this week to federal sex trafficking charges in New York, has not faced criminal charges in New Mexico.
But the scandal surrounding him has still sent a jolt through the state as it comes under scrutiny for laws that allowed him to avoid registering as a sex offender following a guilty plea a decade ago in Florida.
Balderas says his office planned to forward findings to federal authorities.

  • TRUMP-BORDER

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is defending the conditions of the border detention facilities visited by Vice President Mike Pence on Friday.Trump tweeted Sunday, saying the children's rooms were "well run and clean" while the men's facilities were "clean but crowded."
The president's account flies in the face of images from the visit and accounts from journalists present during Pence's tour of the McAllen, Texas, facility.
Hundreds of men were crowded in sweltering cages without cots. Some of the men said they were hungry and had been held in the foul-smelling caged room for 40 days or longer.
Pence's tour was meant to show the administration is providing adequate care for migrants but needs more money.
The scene he witnessed, though, sparked new criticism of the conditions facing migrants.