U.S. Attorney’s Office Secures Guilty Plea in To’Hajiilee Murder Case

ALBUQUERQUE – A To’Hajiilee man pled guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the beating and abandonment of a man in June 2020, which directly resulted in that man’s death.

According to court documents, on June 24, 2020, Antonio Chaco, 41, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, engaged in a verbal argument with John Doe outside Doe’s trailer home in To’Hajiilee. Without sufficient provocation or justification, Chaco struck John Doe in the face and proceeded to punch and kick Doe until Doe was unconscious.

Once Doe was immobilized on the ground, Chaco wrapped Doe in a carpet, placed him in the back of an SUV, and drove him to a remote location within the Navajo Nation. At this secondary site, Chaco continued to assault Doe before leaving him there, badly beaten and without any means of survival in the wilderness—no water, food, phone, or shade.

Police located John Doe’s skeletonized corpse in the To’Hajiilee wilderness on July 4, 2020. It was later determined Doe’s cause of death was homicidal violence including blunt-head trauma.

Area in To’Hajiilee where John Doe was discovered.

Chaco will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled. At sentencing, Chaco faces up to life in prison.

Chaco is also under federal indictment for assaulting a federal detention officer at the Cibola County Correctional Facility on November 5, 2024. If convicted of that crime, Chaco faces up to 20 years in prison. That case is pending trial.

Acting U.S. Attorney Holland S. Kastrin and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Police Department and Navajo Nation Department of Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary C. Jones and Brittany DuChaussee are prosecuting these cases.