Rio Rancho Man Charged With Double Murder

A Rio Rancho man has been charged with double murder after Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office deputies located his bloody car, whose tire tracks led them to the shooting victims.

Elbert Thurman Turner Jr. is charged with two counts each of felony murder in the first degree and tampering with evidence in the killing of Marilyn Benham and Jordan Green of Rio Rancho.

According to the criminal complaint, about 7:30 a.m. on June 30 the law enforcement dispatch center received a call from a man reporting he believed his neighbor shot two people living in a shed on a property off Southern Boulevard.

The caller said he had heard arguing and banging on a door, then gunshots. He led deputies to another location where Turner’s car was discovered with blood inside. The vehicle’s tire tracks led to the victim’s bodies, though the Sheriff Office’s K-9 was also utilized.

Benham’s family has started a gofundme page for Marilyn, who was known as Ranae. It says she was 36 years old and the mother of two boys and that Green was her boyfriend.

The gofundme page says that Sheriff Office K-9s were used to locate the bodies, which had been “dumped” in the desert.