May 15—An Española woman has been charged with disturbing a marked burial ground after she was accused of removing human remains from a cemetery in Chimayó.
Cassandra Trujillo, 34, was charged with the fourth-degree felony May 12 after friends and family of the deceased man, Nathan Vigil, told officers they witnessed Trujillo digging up an urn containing Vigil’s ashes in a cemetery in Chimayó and reburying it in a cemetery in Alcalde, according to a criminal complaint filed in Rio Arriba County Magistrate Court.
Vigil was shot and killed in July 2021 in Española. Randy Lujan Sr., 58, of Santa Cruz was charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in Vigil’s death.
According to a criminal complaint, Vigil had attempted to rob Lujan during an incident at an Española home, and the two fired at each other but Vigil missed. Lujan is accused of disposing of Vigil’s body in a ravine in Abiquiú.
Trujillo was identified by witnesses as a former girlfriend of Vigil, according to the complaint.
Trujillo was seen on surveillance video at the Chimayó cemetery removing an urn with Vigil’s remains, the complaint states, before a witness said they confronted her at the Alcalde cemetery, burying the urn next to the gravesite of another family friend.
Rio Arriba County Magistrate Alexandra Naranjo recused herself from the case, which has been assigned instead to Magistrate Judge Joseph Madrid.