Member submission
By RALPH BLUMENTHAL and DAN FROSCH
Published: March 17, 2006
CLOUDCROFT, N.M. — Sgt. Billy Anders knew something was terribly wrong. The fresh blood spots outside the roadside cabin, the hatchback with the open rear door in the driveway and the instincts he had honed as a big-city cop in San Antonio gave him reason to be alarmed.
His gut was right.
What happened in the next few minutes on that freezing night in December 2004 would leave two men dead, a community in shock and Sergeant Anders, a beloved local sheriff’s officer nearing retirement, charged with killing a handcuffed prisoner. A video camera in the sergeant’s own patrol truck was unblinking witness...