Man killed in fire
Identity not available
By Zarana Sanghani
Staff Writer
GALLUP — Officials are investigating a fire at 9 Pittsburgh Loop
which killed a man Thursday night. Another resident, a younger male,
escaped the fire, said Tom Trujillo, Tsa-Ya-Toh Fire Department support
services director.
"By the time (fire stations) received the call and responded
and they responded immediately the house was engulfed in flames,"
Trujillo said.
When the call did come at 7 p.m., McKinley West, Whispering Cedars
and Navajo Estates Volunteer Fire Departments all went to the house
in Tsa-Ya-Toh, but the home was destroyed, Trujillo said.
The fire departments determined the origin to be the living room where
a wood burning stove is located, but the cause of fire is still unknown,
Trujillo said.
Names of the two residents involved have not been released...
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Memories of murder
Shiprock family, workers can't block out the horror
S.J. Ludescher
Staff Writer
SHIPROCK — Nolan Charley said goodbye to his mother that Monday
evening, thanking her for lending him her car. As he closed the door,
he didn't know he would never see her again.
Verma Charley, an employee of Shiprock's Diné College, would
die an hour and a half later, stabbed to death. She was 46.
A domestic dispute at their home in Shiprock's Northeast Heights subdivision
between Verma Charley and her common law husband, Jim Peters, 38,
would lead to the death of both people. Peters would die two days
later, driving off a 300-foot cliff.
It was nearly midnight Nov. 8 when one of Nolan Charley's aunts woke
him to tell him his mother had been stabbed and was at the local hospital.
The hospital wouldn't give him any information over the telephone,
so another aunt told the 24-year-old man of his mother's death.
While Nolan Charley waited for hours at the hospital for police investigators
to complete their tasks, he began to learn the painful circumstances
surrounding his mother's death. The vividness of the killing is hard
for him to erase from his mind, he said.
Peters' 17-year-old son, Jim Peters Jr., was doing homework at the
kitchen table when the fight began. According to Nolan Charley, the
boy didn't know anything was wrong until the elder Peters rushed into
the kitchen, grabbed a 7-inch-long kitchen knife and ran back into
the bedroom.
Police reports indicated the son tried to break up the fight. The
elder Peters pushed the youth out of the way, cutting him on the hand.
No one seems to know what caused the argument that led
to the fight. "I kept asking myself what would've caused this.
It bothered me that we didn't know, but now I've decided that the
reason doesn't matter. It won't bring them back," Nolan said.
By a witness's account, the elder Peters stabbed Verma Charley more
than 17 times in the chest, stomach and legs. She fled to the next
door neighbor's house, wearing only underwear, and collapsed in the
doorway.
Emergency medical technicians attempted to keep Verma Charley alive
while she was driven to a nearby hospital, but she was pronounced
dead on arrival.
She was buried five days later.
Drives off cliff
Immediately after the stabbing, the elder Peters fled
the house, eluding authorities for a day and a half.
On Nov. 10, a police patrol spotted Peters sitting in his vehicle
overlooking a canyon in the Shiprock area.
The officers had checked the Peters-Charley residence after her death
and had noted that firearms were missing, Shiprock Criminal Investigator
Sammy Akeah said. Because of the missing weapons, the police had assumed
Peters was armed and dangerous.
Rather than move in, they backed off and called for more officers.
Akeah, one of the dispatched backup officers, tried to talk Peters
into surrendering, shouting from a distance of about 175 feet.
Akeah said Peters, who was drinking beer, became nervous and told
officers he was going to drive off the 800-foot cliff. He was distraught,
he told them, over having killed his wife.
The cliff falls away for perhaps 300 feet, then smoothes
out for another 100 feet before dropping the rest of the distance.
After a long moment, Peters got back in his vehicle and "peeled"
his car, plunging over the cliff and to his death.
Akeah said the officers involved, including himself, have had a difficult
time dealing with the incident.
Peters was buried Nov. 15 in a grave next to the wife
he had killed.
Probably alcohol-related
The investigation into the deaths was turned over to the FBI and the
case has been closed. Supervisor Special Agent Doug Beldon said the
reason for the Peters-Charley dispute was unknown. "It probably
was alcohol-related," he said.
However, there was no indication the elder Peters had been drinking
at the time of the fight. But several of Verma Charley's relatives
and close friends said binge drinking may have been a problem for
Peters throughout his adult life.
Sammy Akeah said the elder Peters had several misdemeanors on his
record, including driving under the influence and disorderly conduct.
"Looking back, there were so many signs,"
said Perry Charley, a cousin-brother by clan relationship to Verma
Charley and also an employee of Diné College.
"Sometimes Verma wasn't herself, like she had something on her
mind. I'd see her walking home from work, and I'd know that Peters
had taken the car and not picked her up. It's not until later you
realize a lot of symptoms were there. You just never expect it to
happen to you. I knew he was a drinker."
Perry Charley said that years before, Peters' mother had moved out
of his home. "She was afraid to associate or confront him because
of his anger," Perry Charley said. "He was always trying
to push his size and weight around on people who couldn't handle it."
The police report described Peters as 6 feet tall and
weighing about 200 pounds.<cm+bd>A wonderful stepfather<cm-bd>
Most of Verma Charley's friends didn't know the elder Peters well.
But to Nolan Charley, he was a wonderful stepfather. Nolan Charley
described Peters as a lot of fun and said he had never seen him violent.
Young Charley had known Peters most of his life the two hunted and
fished together, and they had worked in the same sculpture studio.
Peters was a talented artist, apprenticed to renowned Kirtland sculptor
Oreland Joe.
Nolan Charley described his mother and Peters as a fun-loving couple
who went out together and seemed to get along well.
"I miss both of them," Nolan Charley said. "It'll always
be with us, but it's all of us (the remaining family) sticking together
that'll get us through this."
Last day at Diné
On Verma Charley's last day of life, she went to her job at the Shiprock
campus of Diné College, just like any other Monday morning.
Her co-worker, Linda Torres, talked to her. "I had to pick up
a pay stub, and when she couldn't find it right away, she (Verma Charley)
joked that she had a lot on her mind, and she felt as though something
was going to happen," Torres said, her eyes filling with tears.
At lunch time, Torres said, a group of women have a
custom of eating together. "That day, Verma was just so cheerful.
She cooked us all lunch, even made meat. It was more like a feast.
She was calling up other departments to see if people were still around
to come eat what she had made," she said.
"It was like she knew that she wasn't going to be here any more."
Torres said Verma Charley's premonition as well as her preparing lunch
for co-workers would have been in harmony with her traditional beliefs.
"That's the kind of person she was cheerful, full of life, friendly
and never complained a good mother."
Diné College officials learned of Verma Charley's death the
next morning, when Juanita Benally, a business office employee and
friend of Charley's, received an early call from one of her sisters.
"After Juanita got that call, she hung up and screamed,"
Torres said. "We all ran down there and she told us."
The college closed the office for the remainder of the
week. On Nov. 15, the offices were reopened, but the workers said
it was still tough. "Verma's spirit was still there. Every time
I looked over, I saw her and I couldn't stop crying," Torres
said. "I am still numb."
Medicine man's blessing
Finally, on Nov. 18, a medicine man was brought in to bless the offices.
A ceremony was also performed, Torres said, to give Verma Charley's
spirit "permission to journey on."
"Now I feel much better. I hope she's in a better place,"
Torres said. "She deserves peace after suffering such torture."
Verma Charley never talked about personal problems and had only mentioned
Peters' drinking to her one time, Torres said.
"About three months ago, Peters didn't show up to pick her up
after work," Torres explained. "She was waiting outside
for a very long time after work. I asked her if she wanted a ride
home. On the way, she said she was afraid he was going to come home
from being out drinking. I knew that he was aggressive to her, but
Verma had never indicated that it was a problem."
Torres added she had never noticed any signs of physical abuse on
Verma Charley before, no swollen eyes or unusual bruises.
In her death, Verma Charley will leave a lasting memory on those who
knew her.
"The hardest part for me is the way she died," Perry Charley
said. "She didn't deserve that. I have a little anger, too, about
the person who took her life. He took the easy way out instead of
facing the consequences of his actions."
Although he finds it painful to talk about the tragedy,
Perry Charley said, perhaps it will save someone else.
"Maybe people will wake up," he said, "and
stop hitting each other and drinking."
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Gallup leaders expect no surprises Jan.
1
Bill Donovan
Staff Writer
GALLUP — Gallup city officials are saying that they are about
as ready for Y2K as they can be.
At a meeting Friday the last official meeting the city's Y2K task
force plans to have almost everything that can be done has been done
and then redone to make sure that there are no surprises on the night
of Dec. 31 and the morning of Jan. 1.
"Our major concern is panic," said City Manager David Ruiz,
who like almost all city officials will be on duty throughout the
New Year's Eve and Day to answer calls and, if necessary, to implement
emergency measures.
One of the things that is expected to be done in the next couple of
days is to get a list of all people in the area who are on oxygen
or dialysis at their homes so that city crews will be able to check
up on them.
Gallup Fire Chief Louis Chavez said that the city has
a list of some names but he's not certain if everyone who should be
on it is. Persons who know of anyone who should be checked up on should
forward that information to Chavez at the fire department or city
hall.
The city is also working with the senior citizen centers in the community
to make sure that senior citizens also are being taken care of during
the period.
"We urge that every senior citizen at home have someone with
them," Ruiz said.
While the city water tanks will be at full capacity on Dec. 31, Ruiz
said that heit without their knowledge. When they went to the Bureau
of Indian Affairs, they learned that chapter approval was not even
necessary for the final BIA approval.
Kratz said he expects Oglebay will make a profit from the land for
five to 10 years but the length of time can't be predicted. Profitability
depends on how much of the sand the company finds, he said.
The sand that Oglebay wants is special. Called frac sand, it is used
by oil companies to improve the flow in wells. When forced into wells,
it fiof electricity to the city will have an immediate effect.
City Utility Director Rex Jarim said there are three main scenarios
that may play out on New Year's Eve.
The most likely by far is that there will be no interruption and everything
will be normal.
The second possibility is that electricity, for some reason, is interrupted
totally in which case everyone in the city will be affected and those
with generators will start using them. Those in the city with fireplaces
would be advised to start using them.
The third possibility is that the city will get only a portion of
its normal amount, in which case the city plans to provide electricity
to parts of the city on a rotating basis, with areas getting two or
three hours at a time. If this happens, one of the priorities for
the electricity will be the city pumps so that water delivery will
not be affected.
There will be no one at city hall. Instead, in case of emergencies,
people are being advised to go to the armory or the southside fc.
For the past 33 year, the tribe received only .30 cents a ton.
That was one of the problems with the original contract,
according to Brad Nisemeier, a geologist who works for the tribe's
Minerals Department.
"The overall idea was to improve a drastically poor situation
and to take care of some problems that have been going on for years,"
Nisemeier said.
The old contract was inappropriate and not in the best interest of
the Navajo Nation, he said.
"At the time, they needed economic development
dow DEQ>We have been talking about these plans for months now and
we're ready," said Ruiz, adding that he and other city officials
will be glad when New Year's Eve has come and gone.
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Milan board sues Gomez
Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
MILAN — Board of trustee members are seeking $175,000 in court
awards from Rebecca Gomez for taking an oath of office to fill the
unexpired term of a trustee who left town last February.
Milan Mayor Elisabeth Lopez-Rael said it's legal.
The board maintains it is not, so it is suing Gomez
and also sought and received a temporary restraining order Friday
from 13th Judicial District Judge Joseph Arite to keep Gomez from
taking any action as a trustee...
Police investigate rapes
Zarana Sanghani
Staff Writer
GALLUP — Gallup Police and McKinley County Sheriff's Office are
investigating two separate reports of rape.
Kenneth Yazzie Jr. is suspected by the McKinley County Sheriff's office
of raping an 18-year-old woman Saturday night in Yah-Ta-Hey, police
reports said.
The Gallup Indian Medical Center called police when the woman came
with her boyfriend to the hospital's emergency room for treatment...
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Houck family upset
Land permit transferred to sand pit
Nancy Watson
Staff Writer
HOUCK, Ariz. — Members of the Silversmith family here are afraid
their local chapter, the Navajo Nation and Oglebay Norton Industrial
Sand Inc. are trying to pull the wool over their eyes.
For more than 70 years, the Silversmiths have had a
number of houses and grazing permits on land adjacent to a sand pit
that Oglebay wants to operate.
But family members here do not understand why the Navajo Nation approved
the transfer of a permit originally granted to Arizona Silica Sand
Co. in 1966 to Oglebay without contacting them. The tribe approved
the contract in April...
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Domestic violence is common in Shiprock
S.J. Ludescher
Staff Writer
SHIPROCK — The program director of the Home for Women and Children
said his agency had never dealt with Verma Charley, a 46-year-old
Shiprock woman killed last month by her common law husband.
"I am deeply saddened by this story," Director
Ray Deal said. "We had no record of this couple. If we had known,
we would've done an intervention."
Jim Peters Sr., 38, a Shiprock artist, stabbed Charley to death Nov.
8 in their Northeast Heights subdivision home. Two days later, he
drove off a steep cliff, killing himself...
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Group wants to replace stolen toys
Zarana Sanghani
Staff Writer
GALLUP — The Grinch visited Gallup Saturday evening when toys
for almost 500 needy children were stolen from a truck that was to
transport the gifts, said Gerald Valdez, president of the Northwest
New Mexico Motorcylce Riders Association.
The organization has collected toys for needy children for 11 years,
and this is the first time it has faced theft, Valdez said.
Children sign up to receive the donated presents by going to the Rio
West Mall. The children must be from families on Medicaid or other
welfare programs...
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