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October 21, 2011
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The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Hector Torres’ murderer receives 25 years Ralph Montoya pleads to second-degree murder and kidnapping, must complete a 5-year probation period
Zach Gould / Daily Lobo Bailiffs escort Ralph Montoya to prison after he pled guilty to two counts of murder in the second degree and kidnapping in the second degree.
by Charlie Shipley
charlieshipley84@gmail.com Ralph Montoya pled guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, and one count of seconddegree kidnapping Tuesday in court in relation to the murders of UNM professor Hector Torres and graduate student Stefania Gray in March 2010. Torres, 54, and his girlfriend Gray, 43, were found shot to death in Torres’ home on March 8, 2010. Montoya, Gray’s ex-boyfriend, confessed to murdering the couple the next day, according to reports. The kidnapping charge stems from a January 2010 incident when
Montoya reportedly entered Torres’ home and held him at knifepoint. “It is a sad day, because there really can be no closure to this horrific event in our lives,” Dee Iannone, Torres’ sister, told the court. “I came to face this larger-than-life entity who murdered my brother. Instead, there sits nothing but a man who committed a monstrous and cold-blooded act.” Iannone said she hates what Montoya did to her brother, but that she is satisfied with his sentence. “I will not carry the poison of hatred in my heart,” she said. “Hatred is what has this man here.” Iannone and other family members brought photographs of
Zach Gould / Daily Lobo Friends and family of murder victims UNM English Professor Hector Torres and his girlfriend UNM graduate student Stefania Gray gather in Judge Sanchez’s District Court room Thursday. Ralph Montoya pled guilty to murder and kidnapping charges. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Torres for the judge’s consideration. Montoya’s sentence comes as part of a sentencing agreement under which all counts will be served consecutively for a total of 41 years. The state agreed to suspend 16 years of his sentence on the condition that Montoya complete five years of supervised probation. Montoya also agreed that the kidnapping charge would be designated a serious violent offense. Neither Montoya nor his attorney had any comments before sentencing. Gray’s mother, Teresa Pittman, was less forgiving of Montoya. “Ralph, you deserve death,”
she said. “When the lord calls, you will be judged.” Pittman said her daughter, who had previously filed a restraining order against Montoya, feared for her life. “She knew he would murder her,” she said. District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Kayla Anderson said that though a measure of closure was given to the families, vigilance is still important. “Vigilance is important among every single individual in their community,” she said. “Whether in your home or walking to your car, you always need to protect yourself and be on the lookout for any sort of danger
that could be lurking around the corner because you really never know.” Torres had been with UNM since 1986 in the UNM Department of English Language and Literature and taught contemporary postmodern Chicana and Chicano studies. Gray was a graduate student in comparative literature in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. Gray also taught ninth-grade English in Bernalillo. English Department Chairwoman Dr. Gail Houston said that after the murders last year, a memorial fund was established, and resulted in the creation of the GrayTorres Conference on Stalking and Domestic Violence.
Universities rethink foreign campuses
TALK TO ME
By Justin Pope
The Associated Press
Juan Labreche / Daily Lobo Gaspar Alderete spoke on the panel during an Anti-Bullying forum put on by LGBQT. Gaspar runs a support group for victims of bullying and states that “support is huge [for those facing bullying]… they need to know that they have someone they can speak to.” For full mutlimedia coverage check out DailyLobo.com.
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 116
issue 43
Tides of change
There can be only one
See page 5
See page 6
It’s a modern version of the quest for “gold, God and glory” that drove explorers overseas in centuries past. For the last decade, American college presidents have been obsessed with expanding abroad — looking to tap new markets, spread the gospel of American higher education and leave a glamorous global legacy. But like most empire-builders, they’ve found the reality on the ground more challenging than expected. High-profile and expensive failures of Middle East branch campuses run by Michigan State and George Mason were a wake-up call. Suffolk University recently closed a campus in Senegal after concluding it would be cheaper just to bring the students to Boston. Even elite schools still pushing forward, like Duke, Yale and New York University, have faced resistance from faculty concerned about finances, quality and whether host countries such as China, Singapore and the UAE will uphold academic freedom. The result: a new era of caution, particularly toward a model that once looked like the wave of the future. Some experts say branch campuses — where a U.S. university “plants a flag,” operates its
see Universities PAGE 3
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