Rufenacht sentenced to eight years for death of Apachito

Daniel Rufenacht of Magdalena was sentenced to eight years in prison, two years parole concurrent with three years of probation for his guilty conviction of manslaughter. The judge also ordered that he participate in counseling for anger management and that he have no contact with the victim’s family, no possession of weapons, or use of alcohol or drugs.

“A human being lost her life as a result of your actions and there are consequences for those actions,” Honorable Judge Mercedes C. Murphy said at his sentencing at the Socorro County Courthouse on May 7.

During the hearing, Victim Advocate Desiree Rosas read a statement directed to Rufenacht from the victim’s mother, Shirley Apachito.

“I feel so bad and so hurt because I don’t have my daughter. I won’t ever see my daughter again. I don’t know if you have a family. I wonder how you feel now that you will see your family. You’re coming back. My daughter is never coming back,” Rosas read.

Seven friends and family members of Rufenacht addressed the court, expressing their support for his character. They described him as a man of God, trustworthy, a hard worker and always there for his family and community.

“I know the victims, and I feel bad for all of them, but I just want to say my husband is a good man, and he was home minding his own business, working, and I ask that you please just find grace,” Melanie Rufenacht said.

During the hearing the Plaintiff’s attorneys argued that Rufenacht’s response after Apachito’s shooting indicated surprise at being unable to use lethal force to protect his property and showed a lack of remorse.

“I live right down the street. We have never done what the defendant did. Not only shoot one person, but shoot a second person right through the heart. I’m not going to argue about whether he’s a good person. I don’t think I’m qualified to give that opinion,” Attorney Kathrine Stout said. “I don’t understand how you would shoot somebody, defend your property anyway, let alone ignore your counsel, ignore everything, and still feel that you were right or justified in shooting someone when 12 people had told you that you weren’t.”

Rufenacht’s lawyer, Raymond Conley, argued for probation instead of full imprisonment citing his behavior, remorse during trial and the belief that he was not a danger to the community.

“I would just cite to behavior prior to trial. He was released into the community. He was on pretrial services. That speaks for itself. There was never anything sent to this court that I’m aware of in relation to violating any pretrial release conditions,” Conley said. “He showed remorse. If you look at the diagnostic report, there’s remorse in that, too. He states it’s the worst thing, the worst crime you can commit.”

After a discussion on changes in statute and legal technicalities, the judge announced the sentence for his guilty charge of manslaughter.

“I believe that you have great community support, family support, but the law is very clear. You cannot use deadly force to defend property. You can use deadly force to defend people but not things,” Judge Murphy said. “There are some crimes which there has to be imprisonment imposed, taking the life of another human being is one of those crimes.”

The manslaughter charge stems from a shooting incident in Magdalena. On December 29, 2023, multiple law enforcement agencies responded to a shooting that left local resident 39-year-old Sandra Apachito dead and 72-year-old Fred Leyba injured. After a seven-hour standoff with Rufenacht, law enforcement officers tactically entered his home and apprehended him.

In February 2024, after a three-day jury trial, Rufenacht was found guilty of manslaughter. He was found not guilty on the charges of second-degree murder and not guilty of resisting, evading, or obstructing.