Missed meetings led co-worker to man dead with tape around head, NM officials say

A man has been convicted in the 2024 killing of a businessman found tied up in his home, New Mexico officials said.

After missing several business calls, Christopher Fallen’s business partners went to his home and found the 48-year-old with a belt around his neck and his head wrapped in tape, according to an April 2024 news release by the Albuquerque Police Department.

His hands and legs had been bound by duct tape, and his cause of death was later determined to be asphyxiation, according to an Oct. 14 Facebook post by the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office.

Fallen’s car and several electronics were missing from his home, police said.

Fallen’s father told officials his son had welcomed a roommate, later identified Andres Chavez, whom Fallen had met on a dating app and began a sexual relationship with, allowing Chavez to stay in the home until he got “on his feet,” officers said.

After finding Fallen’s car in a Starbucks parking lot, officers detained two people, including Daniel Hadders, police said.

Although a search warrant revealed the car had 13 credit cards inside belonging to Fallen and a house key attached to Fallen’s keychain, Hadders told officers he knew Chavez but bought the car and just kept the credit cards he found inside the wallet in the car, authorities said.

Later, officers learned of communication between Hadders and Chavez and a photo showing Fallen sitting on the bed with his hands bound together and his clothes covered in blood, police said.

Officers obtained an arrest warrant for Chavez, but they said he died months after the killing, according to KRQE.

Hadders was convicted on charges of murder, kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, aggravated burglary and tampering with evidence, prosecutors said.

“This verdict is about justice for Christopher Fallen and the family and friends who loved him,” District Attorney Sam Bregman said in the post. “This was a calculated and horrific act of violence, and thanks to the tireless work of our prosecutors and investigators, the jury held the defendant accountable.”