S1: E5 – Murder in the Desert, Part 2

The pressure was on Las Crusis police to solve what was called the worst killing in twenty years.

We never had a case where three people have been killed, all in one home and all at one time.

For Prosecutor Amy Orlando, the unsolved case shattered this safe and affluent community.

People were concerned and they were fearful. That was something very unusual for our community.

But the suspect would turn the police's investigation inside out.

These guys think they're their gods was power. Well, I'm not a god, but I have powers of a god, and I'm going to show them what the powers are.

Today, we're back in the remote hills of Las Cruces, New Mexico, for the conclusion of Murder in the Desert. I'm Sloan Glass and this is American Homicide. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the individuals participating. This podcast also contained subject matter which may not be suitable for all audiences. Discretion is advised.

New Mexico is an odd state because if you go up to northern New Mexico, you're going to just see a lot more museums and a lot of art. And then you get down south and We're still kind of slow moving here.

Los cruzz is where Ami Orlando started her nineteen year career as a prosecutor.

We don't honk it people a lot when they're going the wrong way, you're going too slow. I like to think we're a little bit more friendly. We have a lot of ranchers and farmers here, and then we have I think five or six Starbucks, and so I think that tells you kind of size of what we.

Are actually lost. Cruisez is a city of one hundred thousand, but those who live there say it feels like a small town.

I like that it feels safe and that we lock our doors, but you can still walk around at night. You don't feel like you just have to rush to your car when you're leaving the mall. We have our crime, but we have great law enforcement, and it just feels like it's still safe.

That safe feeling was shattered in twenty ten following the triple murder of Jill and Helga Delile and Peter wife.

This was the biggest homicide that we had had since the eighties, and trust me, as the prosecutor leading kind of the legal part of it and working with law enforcement, we all foult that stress because we did not want to be, you know, the group that went down to not solve a triple homicide, which was our biggest case of that nature in Las Cruses.

As the months passed, it appeared from the outside that the investigation had stalled, but the reality was very different.

We narrowed in on kind of one suspect and his name was Gino Ferry.

Gino Ferry was a contractor who did some business with the victims, but the deal went south after Gino's tap climbed above one million dollars. Jill sued him, but Gino filed for bankruptcy. A lengthy court battle ensued the day before the conclusion of that trial. Jill, his wife Helga, and his business partner Peter whythe were murdered.

Gino claims he had an alibi and had nothing to do with it, and so we knew we had to prove it.

By the spring of twenty eleven, nearly a year after the murders, a witness named Ricky Huckabee began cooperating with investigators. Ricky was a convicted felon who served ten years in prison and later did some odd jobs with Gino including driving Gino to the Delio's house on the day of the murders.

He tells us the events that happened up to the killing of the victims.

There was no question Ricky was afraid of Gino, so the police offer to protect him. In return, Ricky would record his conversations with Gino. But getting Gino to talk freely about murdering three people wasn't easy.

So Miss Tugby I think was getting a little frustrated with Gino because he always talking circles. He knew what to say without saying anything we tell him. You just got to try and get him to talk about it. But you can't put words in his mouth. But you got to get him to talk about it.

One afternoon, Ricky found a way.

There's one point in the investigation where he said to Gino, well, would you really do it again? Would you do anything different? And Gino said to him, yes, I would do it again.

As open and shot of a confession as that seems, it still wasn't enough for the DA. They were still building their case. That became a familiar refrain to Detective Robin Glickovic.

We were frustrated. It was already almost a year, we're still gathering evidence. We want to put this guy away. We know for a fact that he killed these people, but yet he's still walking the streets, our streets and our community where our families live, and he's dangerous and to the point where we as detectives have to take different routes home because he knows where we live.

Investigators started looking over their shoulders because Gino seemed to be watching them.

He was a type of individual that thought he was smarter on everybody and he could get away with anything that he did, and we needed to keep an eye on him to prevent other crimes from happening, and had to prevent him from leaving town. Mexico's right there, and he had the money to leave.

At one point, Detective's place what's called a bird dog or a GPS tracker on Gino's vehicle. That same day, something unsettling happened.

We went back to the Sheriff's department, did a briefing. Then Gino Ferry was parked across the street and just sitting there. It was almost like he was conducting his own surveillance on us, and he had the mentality of like he was like the Godfather.

You know, I know this sounds more and more like a movie plot, but it wasn't. These were real cops in New Mexico trying to put this guy away, all while looking over their shoulders and worrying about their loved one safety. But if they arrested Geno now without a formal charge, there would be nothing keeping him in police custody.

And from that point we almost took a different path on getting Geno.

Ferry authorities went after Gino the same way law enforcement took down old school gangsters like al Capone.

Okay, if we can't get him on the homicide right now, let's get him on a white collar crime.

Detectives knew that Gino had gone through bankruptcy proceedings and in digging deeper, he had just gotten divorced. Police took that information and connected it to a tip that Ricky Huckabee provided. He said that Gino had a bunch of storage units where he hit property and assets from the courts, which is against the law.

He had cars at one point, he had preschool stuff like chairs and desks and stuff.

But more than just preschool furniture turned up.

We found over one hundred guns in multiple large safes that belonged to Geno.

The detectives must have been thrilled. This was the breakthrough they were looking for. But none of the guns matched up with the bullets found at the crime scene. But then something odd happened. When detectives opened the door to another of the storage units. They were speechless.

We found over five hundred animals like exotic animals like lions, tigers, full size animals, bears, deer, elk, rhinos.

Just to be clear, these animals weren't alive. They were stuffed and mounted. Not to mention some of them were endangered species.

He claimed he was going to use the animals for a museum here in Las Crusis. In my career, I've never seen anything like it.

These hundreds of stuffed, life size animals that Gino had hidden were valued at and get this, one point two five million dollars, and hiding those assets from the courts is a crime known as possession of encumbered property.

We can get this guy, we can get him off the streets. So using the white collar crime to get him off the streets was the way we needed to go, so we could actually take our time on the homicide and get everything that we needed to make sure it was a solid case so he would not get out.

On April eighth, twenty twelve, police went to the DA to state their case. They had Geno's tape confession to Ricky Huckabee. They also had him on encumbered property. Plus there was the growing fear that Gino was stalking them and could retaliate.

He's a scary guy, and we don't want that kind of person in our community.

This time, the district attorney had a change of heart.

He gave me the green light. You have enough to make an arrest on this guy.

Just a couple of days, shy of the one year mark of the murders, detectives finally got a warrant for Geno Faery's arrest.

I was super excited, super nervous, super anxious, and then I get a phone call saying we're tracking him. He's a leaving town.

The GPS tracker on Gino's vehicle showed Gino heading south for the border.

We thought that somehow he had found out that we were about to charge him, and we think he's fleeing.

Sergeant Joe Renaut knew Gino had a second home in Mexico.

And so we did not want him to hide down there because he had the funds. We believed he had money stashed and other items possibly that he could turn over for money.

Aside from a lengthy extradition process, the authorities had other fears.

You had tons of guns, long range rifles and stuff like that.

And the race to catch Geno Faery on.

That day was very intense.

I ten is the highway from Las cruzz that leads to Mexico. That afternoon, it quickly filled with squad cars heading south.

We have other units, other detectives going. Everybody is just anxious about getting this guy.

Authorities believe they could catch Gino just north of the border in El Paso, which is about forty five miles away.

We tracked them through GPS on a laptop.

The birddog they placed on Gino's vehicle allowed them to follow his every move.

It's about a forty five minute drive depending on traffic, and doing over one hundred miles an hour. It took us about twenty minutes.

Finally, the string of cop cars caught up with Gino's vehicle in El Paso. That's where they were joined by El Paso police and the swat team.

We get to Al Paso. We're in communication with El Paso Police Department. He's here at this location. He's at this intersection.

Investigators watched as Gino pulled into a parking lot in a secluded area and we.

Call him and like move now, move now, and so Apasto PDI. We all move in on him as he's getting out of the vehicle and we're able to get him right there at the vehicle.

Police arrested Geno Faerry without incident and charged him with concealing and encumbered property.

They take him to Al Paso Sheriff's department and we go up there to see if he will give us a statement, and of course he said he didn't want.

To talk to us.

Even with Geno in custody, the police had work to do.

It's not over. We still needed the murder weapon. And once we put him in jail, Ricky Huckaby was just like, okay, let's talk.

Did Ricky Huckaby, the man who told police he drove Geno Ferry to the Delios home the day they were murdered, no more than he was letting on And if he did, what was he holding back detectives were to find out. Police charged Geno Faerry with concealing and comfort property and they believed he was also responsible for the murders of Jill and Helga Delia and Peter Wife. For Sergeant Renault and his team to charge Geno for those crimes, they needed to find the murder weapon.

The crime lab calls us, and they did, in fact confirm that all three were killed with a nine milimeter handgun, which was an oozy type weapon which leaves very distinctive marks. We eventually discovered that Gino owned a weapon like this.

That information came courtesy of their informant, Ricky Huckabee. With Gino now behind bars, Ricky seemed more at ease and revealed some additional information about what happened after the murders when Gino went to a public bathroom at a park to change his clothes.

Ricky remembered that when Gino had arrived back at the park where they had planned to meet, Gino had gone into the portable outdoor bathroom latrine and he walked in with a buffel bag, and he walked out without the bag, and as soon as he got back in the car, he looked at Ricky and said, man, I think I just woke up. And as time went on, and as we started to work together, he started to realize, you know, I think maybe the gun's in there.

So if Gino did dispose of his murder weapon in that park outhouse, the chances of finding a gun in an outhouse toilet a year later we're slim to night. But for Sergeant Renault, it was worth a look.

And I said, shine a light down that dang toilet, please and tell me what you see. He calls me back, He says, I see a lot of crap. And I said, well, what else do you see? He says, I see a gun. It looks like an oozy. It's literally half a mile from our department. I hauled by there and I looked in the toilet. Sure enough, there it was just laying there, straight down.

On the bottom of the outhouse toilet sat the murder weapon.

This gun's been sitting in this toilet for a year. It was rusty, it was it had stuff all over it.

So who was going to fish the gun out of that toilet?

I got the honors of dropping a magnet down and getting it. Because nobody wanted to go in there and the magnet was able to pick it up and we pulled it up and that was the most disgusting piece of evidence I have ever recovered in my career. And we put it in a box. I had to let it air dry, and from there it went to the crime lab. I thought there was no way this gun is going to fire again. The lab did what they do and they called us two weeks later and said it's a match. That was just incredible.

Twelve days after being arrested in Alpaso, and just a year after the Tripple homicide, authorities were finally able to charge Geno Ferry with three counts of first degree murder, we held.

A news conference and they wanted, you know, all the investigators up there behind me. They asked me, were you afraid of Gino? And I said, yeah, we all were.

You Rarely hear cops get emotional, but talking about the threat that you know was to the public and to law enforcement struck a nerve for Sergeant Renault.

We knew what he was capable of, and we knew that you could get within one hundred yards of every entrance at our Sheriff's department, and he had guns and we believed he still had guns that were capable of hitting their mark, and he was very familiar with all types of weapons, and it was just something that was within his mentality pull off.

That afternoon, Sergeant Renaud proudly stood with his team of investigators to announce Gino's arrest.

Mister Fetti was the initial person of interest based on the information that we initially got that he was a defendant in civil litigation filed by Jial Delile against him, and then when the Deliles did not show up for the final court hearing on that the day their bodies were discovered, that was the first place we went.

Prosecutor Amy Orlando also spoke at that press conference and shared what Gino told Ricky Huckabee right after the murders.

The defendant made the remark that what he did at the Deliles home it felt good to him.

In May twenty thirteen, two years after his arrest, Gino's case finally went to trial. Just as it was about to begin, more threats came from Gino.

One of the good things that is a law enforcement tools were able to listen in on phone calls that happened at the gym. Well, he started to make threats saying he was going to take somebody out during the trial. He was going to do it in front of the jury. It was going to be on camera.

I will get my vengeance when I get out of here. That's all that counts. Okay, they've kicked me in the time to do some kicking myself. This is both between these cops that's idiot and all these other guys that are coming after me. These guys think they're gods with a power. Well, I'm not a god, but I have powers of a god, and I'm going to show them what the powers are.

And so we had to have the bomb dogs come. We had snipers on the roof every day and lunch break, any break, they combed the courthouse with the dogs. There was extra security in the courtroom. In fact, we were told by the judge if we wanted to that as the attorneys, we all had the right to wear like a bulletproof vest under our clothes.

They locked me up to the should and they don't expect me to have feelings. They don't expect me to be angry for something I haven't done. Unto them all, let us have a war. When I get out of here. I don't believe in the government, the county, city, state, federal anything, this government themselves.

Everyone was just on heightened alert.

Were Gino's threats real or was it just another way to intimidate his latest foe.

I mean, he had killed three people, so no doubt he's evil and he's dangerous. But you just can't let that get to you, or you'd be preoccupied with it.

Even with the extra security. Came another threat.

We uncovered a plot to kill Ricky Hukaby, a legitimate plot with a known cartel.

Ricky Huckabee was the prosecution star witness and this plot to assassinate him led Sergeant Renaud to personally escort him in and out of the courthouse.

And I haven't seen that done that much security for a case.

For his protection, Ricky was even moved down to the state, But Gino's lawyer, Gary Mitchell, believed these threats were all taken out of context.

They tried to exploit everything they could about Gino's profile. The way he talks and his A type personality profiles him as somebody who, well, this is a gangster kind of guy that will do whatever to get whatever, and that profiles him it's wrong to profile him that way. For Gino, it was sort of funny. I mean, he just said, okay, why not. Surprise was a popular show. He can act like he's from New Jersey, and he can act like a tough guy.

That's the way people saw him. He could fit in and have fun with it.

Tough guy. Gino fairy gritted his teeth as Ricky walked to the witness stand wearing a bulletproof vest. The judge even ordered photographers not to take pictures of Ricky's face in order to protect him. On the witness stand, Ricky, how could be, testified that Gino confessed to him. According to Ricky, Gino used to key to get inside the Delia's house and woar a mask and Rubbert gloves. When Jill Delile first arrived, Gino shot him repeatedly. A short

I think this idea that Rick Hockaby says it Gino confessed to him is a bunch of nonsense. I don't think Geno confessed to him. It's not even his nature to go confess to somebody like that. I think that's just Rick Hocklebee, as I said to the jury, trying to protect himself, point a finger at Gino and help the state out, and realizing, well, the state now has

So I'm going to go with the state.

Along with calling Ricky Huckaby a liar, Gino's attorney argued that Gino wasn't the killer because he couldn't be in two places at once.

We had an alibi.

Depending on the time you're talking about, he was either eating a meal or he was lisiting with a friend that he had of here.

When clients face murder charges, most lawyers try to keep them off the witness stand, But when you have an ego as big as Gino's, there was no keeping him from testifying. Gino emphatically denied confessing to Ricky Huckaby. He testified that during that four thirty to six thirty PM window when the murders happened, he was at a friend's house and then grabbed a hot astronomy sandwich from a deli. He even had a receipt timestamped six h nine PM that backed up his story.

Our sandwich receipts showed that it was impossible for him to have.

Done this, but prosecutor said not so fast. The owner of that deli where Gino was said to be at six oh nine pm testified that the clocks on his cash register were wrong. They were an hour behind because they hadn't been adjusted for daylight savings time that would put Gino at the deli at seven oh nine pm. A deli employee even testified that Gino left the deli around seven forty five pm.

It was a neat argument as the state made, which made our defense a lot weaker because they threw out this suggestion to the Jerry that we didn't have a correct time, that we were an hour earlier, an hour late.

And remember how Gino said he was with a friend at the time of the murders. Well, Gino's friend testified that Gino called him on his way over sometime around five pm, but Gino's phone records showed no such phone call. That visit with his friend was something new to prosecutor in you Orlando. She asked Gino why he failed to mention his visit when he first talked with investigators. Gino

He turned his back to me, to the point that the judge had to call his defense counsel up to say, that's not really effective. The jury isn't going to like that. And his defense attorney was like, I can't control him. The judge had to order him to turn around.

Gino later admitted to lying under oath during previous hearings for divorce and bankruptcy. He proudly said, I'll lie to protect what's not right.

I knew that I was getting under his skin, which I mean just affirms that one that I'm right, meaning that we had the right person, and that you have no doubt, and the fact that he was trying to control even that situation and I wasn't going to let him control it.

From day one, prosecutors focused on Gino Faery. This was something that his defense attorney pointed out to the jury.

There could have been any number of people, and I wanted the jury to take a good hard look at that and say, listen, I mean, just because the district attorney selects this one person doesn't necessarily mean these others should be off the hook. And we in fact argued during the case that there were other people that were around that could easily have done this.

Ju Julia was not only a businessman but also an inventor. At the time of his death, he was negotiating the sale of another invention, something said to extend gas mileage by thirty percent. The proceeds of the sale would have gone to charity, but just before the sale, two of his partners involved in the invention mysteriously died. One was poisoned and the other fell off a ladder while repairing his roof.

There were a lot of people that could have done this. Other than Geno. Here's the bottom line. You screw with people from a business sense to the point that you've bankrupt him, to the point that you take everything away from them, and you think, in this day and age, people, I AM going to get upset over that kind of stuff. You know, those chickens come home the roost after a while.

Gino's defense team wanted the jury to know that someone else had a motive.

At the end of the day, it was a tough, hard nosed tried case in which the lawyers brought out everything that they could and jurors are left with jumping to one conclusion or the other.

The worst part for a prosecutor is when the jury leaves the courtroom to deliberate because there's absolutely nothing else we can do.

Just before noon that day, the jury began deliberations and lawyers prepared for a long night of waiting.

It was nerve wracking because you never know what a jury's going to believe.

The trial of legendary nineteenth century outlaw Billy the Kid happened just south of where Gino Ferry now awaited his fate. He heard six days worth of testimony and saw nearly two hundred and fifty pieces of evidence under a heavy blanket of security. Thanks to a number of threats, I.

Was authorized to do whatever it took to secure that courthouse.

Sergeant Joe Renault not only investigated the case, but oversaw courtroom security.

We had undercover agents inside the courtroom, undercover agents outside the courtroom, cameras rolling, We had snipers. We had Ricky Huckaby in a bulletproof vest, and we didn't take any chances.

Ricky Huckabee was the prosecution's key witness, but there were fears he wouldn't make it into the courthouse alive.

We had verified information of a planned assassination attempt at Ricky Huckabee.

Although there were no incidents during the trial, additional law enforcement joined to the already packed courtroom once the jury returned with a verdict, and although the lawyers were expecting a long wait, the jury returned with their answer relative quickly.

Normally, when it's a long trial, they deliberate for a long period of time.

The fact that they deliberated for just two and a half hours stuck out to Prosecutor Amy Orlando.

So when they came back quickly, it's always an uneasy feeling it's obviously they're a good sign or bad.

Defense attorney Gary Mitchell read a little deeper into the jury short deliberation.

It wasn't days later that it came in.

It was hours, and I told Gina, you know, it's not long enough to have an acquittal, so prepare yourself.

On the three counts of first supree murder, the jury found Geno Fairy guilty. From the back of the courthouse came a scream. It was Gino's mother. An undercover agent stood behind her just in case she started any trouble, but nothing happened.

It was a relief because it had taken us two three years to get to trial and finally to be able to give the victims some closure, even though they're deceased, but to know who killed them, and then to give the survivors around them and our community that Gino was never going to be on the street again.

The judge sentence Gino Ferry to three life sentences. He was fifty years old at the time of the sentencing and won't be eligible for parole for ninety years. Gino didn't utter a word. He just stood there emotionless while prosecutors embraced one another and celebrated their victory.

We knew that we had the right person in jail and charged with the crimes.

There's TV shows out there that's say, if a murders not solid in forty eight hours, most likely it will never be solved. So when this verdict was read on Geno, that's blown away.

For Sergeant Renaud, the long, complicated and dangerous case was finally over, and it featured many firsts.

I would tell these guys in the investigative team, watch your back, don't take the same route home every time, don't eat at the same restaurants every day. Tell your girlfriends to be careful. First time I've ever had to do that in my career. With all the homicides I worked, all the officer involved shootings I've worked, and never in my wildest dreams what I have to tell cops to be super extra careful and protect their families. Because Gina

Gina's defense attorney believed the jurors had made up their minds long before his closing arguments.

They jumped pretty quick to that one conclusion because primarily that gun business.

And here's the big thing that you overset it, don't.

Trial the number of homicides involved. I mean, excuse me, this was this was not a single homicide. This looked like somebody had gotten angry about something. So it all sort of fit in to point the finger at Gino.

He believes that Ricky Huckabee was responsible for the triple murders.

Rick Huckabye walked away from this case. Interesting, isn't it that he walks away? You know, I think a lot more of the seven is pointing toward Rick huckaby than my client. But I'm not the prosecuting attorney and I'm not the investigating police departments.

Ricky Huckabee drove Gino to the Delio's house and even called the house well, Gino was there, killing Jill Helga and Peter. Ricky was never charged, but Sergeant Renault understands why people believe he could have been connected to the murders.

Could he have been more knowledgeable than what he let on?

Sure?

You know, they could have hashed us out and said I'm going to go over there and I'm going to kill these people. And this is our plan, but we never got any evidence to support that. I honestly truly believe Ricky Huckabye is a decent person and did the right thing and took great courage to do what he did. Huge courage. Ricky Huckabee wherever he is now, and he's still in danger. He is absolutely still in danger. I don't know where he's at. I wish him well.

New Mexico state law automatically triggers an appeal for anyone sentenced to life in prison. In twenty fifteen, the New Mexico Supreme Court upheld Gino's conviction. He will be eligible for parole when he is one hundred and forty two years old. With Gino now behind bars for life, the city of Las Cruces slowly returned to being that safe, small, tight knit city, sometimes too small for Sergeant Renault.

And how small of a world it is that we hear My daughter was playing soccer for a local high school and an incoming freshman stood up and said, my dad is in prison for killing people, and happened to be Gino's daughter. And you know, that's how small a town this is. Gino has a son and a daughter and they've turned out to be great.

People, but Gino Fairy would never be done. In twenty eighteen, Gino filed a civil lawsuit against the New Mexico Department of Corrections. He alleged that his constitutional rights were violated following what's known as a facility shakedown. That's when prisoners place their belongings in a bin and items that don't fit in that bin are sent to the prisoners home. In his one hundred and thirty three page complaint, he voiced his anger that some clothing and four DOUAA batteries

We got the son of a bitch. That's the only thing that mattered to me.

For Jill's friend and neighbor, Bob Senecal, he still holds onto his anchor.

I know they don't have the death penalty in the state, but he's gone for the rest of his natural life, and I'm he deserves it, and I for one hope he rots in hell.

Back in twenty eleven, nearly a year after the triple murders, Bob wrote a letter to the editor that was critical of law enforcement's handling of the case.

A week later, they arrested Geno. So I had it write up make Kulpa saying I'm glad you guys did your job, and I'm sorry I tried to rat you out.

In the end, Bob believes it all boils down to one thing.

There are a lot of good people in this world, and there are some bad people in this world, and as long as the good people try to keep the bad people under control, we're going.

To be okay.

During those months following the murders, an outlaw named Gino Faery continued to walk the streets of Las Crusees. It was something that scared Ricky Huckabee and even law enforcement, but for Bob Senecal, he actually hoped he would run into Gino.

I kept my twelve gauge under my bed because I was just praying he'd come and talk to me.

Next time. On American Homicide, a beaten and bruised woman escapes her captor after a horrific ordeal As more details emerged, what police uncover would be much bigger than they ever imagined. I'm Sloan Glass. We'll make our final trip to New Mexico and head to Elephant Butte. That's next time on American Homicide. You can contact the American Homicide team by emailing us at American Homicide Pod at gmail dot com.