LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - A man has been convicted of second-degree murder in a 2016 stabbing death in Las Cruces.
Prosecutors say a Third Judicial Court jury found 37-year-old Rudolfo Martinez guilty of killing 46-year-old Christopher Wray.
They say Martinez faces up to 19 years in prison when he’s sentenced at a later date.
Martinez, of Roswell, testified he was in Las Cruces to work on a roofing job in July 2016 and had never met Wray before.
Martinez says he asked Wray if he knew where to buy drugs and a verbal altercation turned physical, which led to the stabbing in a hotel parking lot.
Authorities say Wray was stabbed 25 times with an unknown object, which was never recovered.
He was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead hours later.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.