'They've got the wrong guy'
Gamerco woman provides alibi for dragging suspect

By Leslie Wood
Staff Writer

GALLUP — While a 32-year-old Gallup man was being dragged through city streets Easter morning, John Talamante was attending a party in Gamerco, a local woman insists.

Amanda Palacios, 24, of Gamerco, said the Gallup Police Department's prime suspect in connection dragging was asleep at a Gamerco residence at the time of the attack.

Palacios, a longtime friend and co-worker of John Talamante, said she and Talamante attended a party at a Gamerco home following their shift at the Silver Stallion.

"He stayed with us the whole night," Palacios said.

That conflicts with the statement of probable cause filed in McKinley County Magistrate Court, in which Talamante's mother, Roxanne Spicer said Talamante admited to her he was involved with the dragging. Also, Alex Toadlena, Talamante's roommate, told detectives Talamante pointed to a newspaper article about Arellano's dragging and said, "I did that, I am part of that something on the east side," according to the statement.

Talamante, 24, was booked into the Gallup-McKinley Adult Detention Center on felony charges of kidnapping, aggravated battery and aggravated assault with intent to commit a violent crime on Friday for his alleged role in the dragging of Fausto Arellano from a truck for nearly 4,000 feet.

Palacios said it's not possible for Talamante to have committed the crime since he was in the company of at least eight other party-goers until about 10 a.m. Easter morning.
The pair met in junior high, but became re-acquainted within the last year.

Talamante worked as a doorman and Palacios as a server at the Silver Stallion bar from about 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. on the night prior to and morning of the dragging, she said.

Following the shift, the two stopped at a local Mustang convenience store and Wal-Mart before traveling to the party location in Gamerco.

The group played card games and drank, but remained at the Gamerco location throughout the night. Palacios' sister left the party with the only mode of transportation, she said.

"Once we started up drinking, we stayed at the house," she said.

Talamante reportedly slept inside one of the home's bedrooms on a leaky waterbed mattress while Palacios and other individuals talked at the kitchen table. He awoke wet. Three of the party-goers, including Palacios on two occasions, were interviewed in recent days by detectives from the Gallup Police Department, she said.

Palacios said she volunteered to take a polygraph or lie-detector test to corroborate her statement concerning Talamante's whereabouts at the time of the dragging. A test is scheduled for Wednesday or Thursday.

"My story isn't going to change," she said. "I have nothing to hide ... This is someone's life, why would I lie?"

Witnesses reportedly told officials they saw the pair at the Allsup's located on Patton Drive and Aztec Street during the hours leading up to the dragging.

"They've got people saying it's (Talamante)," she said. "They've got the wrong guy."

Palacios said she's never met Arellano and did not see him at the bar prior to the assault. Despite accounts, Palacios said no fights erupted inside the bar and Talamante did not exhibit any bazaar behavior.

"He talks to everyone," she said. "He has problems with no one that I know of."

She's not certain what evidence exists to connect Talamante to the assault.

"It makes me mad because I don't know how they picked him out," she said.

Gallup police recovered a red 1998 Chevrolet pickup truck north of Gomez Drive on March 30 that matched the description of the vehicle involved in the dragging.

"I've never seen him with a red truck," she said.

Palacios spoke with Talamante for the last time before his arrest when he called the bar on Monday night to ask about his missing cell phone.

— Contact reporter Leslie Wood at (505) 863-6811 ext. 222 or (505) 870-1745.