Two former U.S. Army soldiers led New Mexico law enforcement officers to the dismembered remains of a missing 25-year old Army veteran alongside a northern New Mexico highway on Sunday.
According to court records filed today reviewed by NM.news, Matthew McLaughlin, 25, was reported missing on July 31. Taos County detectives developed information that led them to obtain a search warrant for the home he shared with two other men, 23 and 24, near Tres Pedras outside of Taos.
The arrest warrant filed by a Taos County deputy says that both suspects agreed to be interviewed without a lawyer present and eventually confessed to shooting the missing man with an AR-15 assault rifle then dismembering and disposing of his body alongside State Highway 64 in Taos County. One of the suspects led deputies to two separate locations where they located trash bags containing human remains.
The Taos News reported that all three men had served in the same Army unit at Fort Benning, Georgia.
The suspects claimed the victim was killed after using narcotics that belonged to one of the suspects. Except in instances where the public is in danger, NM.news does not identify the names of suspects who have not yet been convicted.
