Tony Ray Peralta (Roswell Police Department)
A 37-year-old man in New Mexico was arrested after he allegedly walked into a convenience store, borrowed a cellphone, then called 911 and confessed to murdering his landlord nearly 15 years ago — even telling the dispatcher where to find the body.
Tony Ray Peralta was taken into custody on Tuesday and charged with one count of first-degree murder in the slaying of 69-year-old William Blodgett, who has been missing since 2008, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a press release from the Roswell Police Department, Blodgett's son filed a missing persons report for his father on Jan. 3, 2009. The son told police that he and his family had not been able to contact his father since Dec. 23, 2008, and his father's girlfriend had not seen or heard from him since the morning of Dec. 24, 2008.
Detectives quickly honed in on Peralta as a primary suspect in Blodgett's disappearance.
"RPD investigators at that time believed Blodgett may have been murdered and had identified Peralta as a possible suspect after learning from Blodgett's girlfriend that Blodgett had allegedly had some sort of argument or fight with Peralta, who was living as a tenant in part of Blodgett's house, and Blodgett had tried to evict Peralta," police wrote in the release. "However, investigators eventually exhausted all leads, and the investigation stalled pending further information."
The case went cold until Monday at about 1:15 p.m. when police say that a guilt-ridden Peralta walked into an Allsup's store about 200 miles southeast of Albuquerque and confessed.
Police say Peralta simply "borrowed a phone from someone and made his 911 call, telling a dispatcher he had killed somebody, and then gave the phone back to its owner."
After learning where Peralta had placed the call, officers responded and detained him for questioning before arresting him at around 1 a.m. on Tuesday.
Based on the information provided by Peralta, investigators obtained a warrant for the home where Peralta and Blodgett were living when Blodgett suddenly disappeared, authorities said.
Investigators said that Peralta indicated he had buried Blodgett's body on the property.
"Inside an attached room on the west side of the house, plywood floorboards were removed, and excavation was begun, resulting in the discovery of the buried human remains, including many bones and a set of dentures," the release states. "The dentures were compared with Blodgett's dental records – which had been obtained in 2009 after he was reported missing – and that comparison, along with other information gathered during the investigation, led investigators to believe the remains were that of Blodgett."
Police say that Peralta did not provide a motive for the murder but did state that he killed Blodgett using a screwdriver and now felt compelled to come forward and confess.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Albuquerque ABC affiliate KOAT-TV, police said that Peralta was in tears when he confessed to Blodgett's murder, telling investigators that "his head hurts" when he thinks about what he did.
"I don't have an excuse," he reportedly said. "A lot of people have an excuse. I don't have one."
He also asked police to tell Blodgett's family that "he was a good man and that he didn't deserve what I did," KOAT reported.