COLORADO RIVER MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO SECOND-DEGREE MURDER

                 PHOENIX – On Jan. 23, 2013, Loren Kaysang Tahbo, 33, of Parker, Ariz., and a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes, pleaded guilty in federal district court to second-degree murder.

On Aug. 10, 2012, Tahbo stabbed and ultimately killed a man on the Colorado River Indian Tribes reservation.  Tahbo left the scene of the murder and crashed the victim’s car into a canal. He later fled to a woman’s home where tribal police apprehended him.  Tahbo is currently held in federal custody pending sentencing. 

A conviction for second-degree murder carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.  Sentencing is set before Judge Frederick J. Martone on April 2, 2013. 

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Colorado River Indian Tribes Police Department.  The prosecution is being handled by Jennifer E. Green, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.

CASE NUMBER:            CR-12-01773-PHX-FJM
RELEASE NUMBER:     2013-008_Tahbo

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/