Dr. Insanity - Patrol Cop Discovers Severed Head In Children's Park

Episode Date: January 16, 2026

These officers have just arrived at a children’s park after a strange 911 call. They expect to check on someone in need — but instead, they walk straight into a scene so brutal it leaves even veteran officers frozen in disbelief. What follows is one of the most vile discoveries the Las Cruces PD has ever made. This video was made for educational purposes only. The video is presented to provide genuine footage of police incidents to promote transparency in government while providing educational, informative and newsworthy content allowing viewers to examine and assess public safety material. This is a fact-checked documentary using authoritative sources. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Direction. He cut his head off. Dude. Holy man. These officers have just arrived at a children's park after a strange 911 call. They expect to check on someone in need, but instead, they walk straight into a scene so brutal it leaves even veteran officers frozen in disbelief. Oh, I got a few. We have a human head and a human body.

We have both parts. They're just not connected. What follows is one of the most vile discoveries that. The Los Chris's PD has ever made. Did you see the knife? Is this big? Yeah, it's a small knife. All right, let's look for any more victims. Dude, there could be another head in that bag.

So I was just driving, right, and then I pulled in top of him off the park. Okay. And I see the body laying on the floor, and then I think his head was on the side of him. Could you tell you was crazy? No, his head was completely off of his body. What do you mean? Like, he would becapitated. Following the 911 call, a group of officers are dispatched to investigate.

But the caller also mentions something alarming. The crime looks fresh, and there's a man in the park acting suspiciously. As officers make their way to the scene, they have no idea that the man the caller saw is actually the killer, hiding in the park, and watching them. 9-16-97, we got the east blocked up. We just need the south part of the park blocked off. It looks old. Okay.

Go make two-bye with him. Just go sit here. Officers arrive and find a man lying motionless in the middle of the road with his head completely severed. As they begin securing the scene, one officer spots a man sitting beneath a tree just a few feet away. He signals another officer to move in and make contact. And when he approaches, he instantly notices. that the man is covered in blood. Now, I have fun since you made two fight with a pedestrian in the middle of the park.

Sir, put your hands up? Stand up? Come over here? Put your hands up. Put your hands up. Get your knees. Put your hands where I can see them. Contact.

I got covered. You got contact. Yep, ship, yep. Have you ever wreck? I just lost my chair. Just pan down, bro. Yeah, yeah. everything on your pocket?

We'll put those on, please. Put those on, please. You got? Yeah, I got close. Here you go. He go. We need somebody to stay at the intersection to make sure our scene doesn't get contaminated.

Smith, get back to the intersection. Smith, go on the body. After cuffing the bloodied man, officers also notice a blood-stained knife resting beside him. What stands out most to officers, however, is his eerily calm demeanor. He seems completely detached from the horror in front of him as if none of the it has anything to do with him. To them, it's clear something is very wrong with this man. Still, it seems like they've caught their killer, but what they don't realize yet is that this isn't the first time he's been arrested for murder. While two officers escort the suspect to a patrol car,

the others move in to secure the scene and look for more victims. Anyone could be out there. But as the search begins, the brutality of what they just witnessed starts to sink in. making it hard to stay focused. All right, let's look for any more victims. He cut his head off. Dude, fuck. He has a knife, it's a small... Just standby with it.

I'm right here by the rock, because there's a big pool of blood in the grass. I don't want to walk close to, because I don't want to get in... I don't want to walk myself close to it. They say they have a suspect or a possible suspect? I'm like 99.99. That's it. Oh, really? You think so?

Yeah, right there. of the knife with all the blood. Oh, is the knife and blood over there? Yeah. It's like stuck to the ground. You can see all the blood on it. Oh, but then never mind. I didn't know.

I got Ortiz watching where we got the dude. Okay. Has he said anything? He was smiling and laughing when he hooked him on. Do you see the knife? The one that was sticking in the ground? Yeah, is this big. Yeah, it's a small knife.

There might be another one because there's that bag that's covered in blood. At least it looks like blood. that are heading it. I'm actually thinking about that. Yeah. Oh, fuck, I got by here and nobody calls that shit out. Yeah. It took a while. You know how much hard does it get the...

My thing was is people calling 424, they're 424. You can't call on the time yet. This motherfucker gets a head hacked off with a penknife. And nobody says nothing. He was sitting there with his bloody hands next to his bloody bag, and then we found out the tree. Dude, he cut against the tree too. There was like an ex-race to him against the tree.

You think he's just crazy? But you have to be, bro. So they did there. They did their business, came over here and people like, hey, let this motherfucker be seen on the street. No, it's just one dude. That's what I'm saying. Dude, he had to be gnawing at that thing for a while, though. A spines dude are fucking tough.

Like, you had to be going to town on that thing. It takes an average male, several blows with an axe. Yeah, like a, and that's meant for chopping. Yeah. You guys already cleared by that playground and everything? Yeah, it was clear all over there. He had two people with a gun on a pike. Got all 849.

Yeah, what? We got all right, 49. Okay. I think the park's clear now, because I came up all the way from the west coming east. So go back with Ramirez and one of you all decide who's going to go 10-8, okay? Officers canvassed the park and, fortunately, find no other victims. But as they work on the scene, one detail keeps coming up in their conversations. The bloodied knife beside the suspect, they can't believe that a weapon this small could have been used to behead a man.

But as it would soon turn out, they were focused on the wrong detail. Because what the suspect did after the murder would shock detectives even more. For now, though, detectives turn their attention to the victim. Oh, no, that's not. Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. It's got a scorpion on his back. You can go look. So the scene is right there.

Where? Right there. See all the blitz? Why, how did it go to this ball. The head got over there somehow. So you know how to pick it up and move it or he kicked it or rolled it or something like that. So we got a tattoo. Times too.

Yeah, we got some stab wounds, some good stab wounds. A multiple stab wounds. And he's saying it's a two inch. Yeah. There are a small salivine right there. What's that, Dustin? Glass? Right there.

See that, that shiny stuff there and there? What is that? Could he spit? Looks homeless, kind of? Yeah, there's camp that's up here. See where they're at. See, they said there's a camp up there, so I'm wondering that's where he's actually been staying. Are you thinking drug in the week?

Yeah, because there's got drug marks, and if you look, if you're showing your light up there, right by this tree, there's a puddle of blood right there, and blood on the control. He either was carrying the head or the head fell off from that time. It looks like the... There's a roll right there. He doesn't. That role? Yeah, because there's blood right to test it or kicked it.

Yeah. The victim is identified as 51-year-old James Garcia. His head is found nearly 20 feet from his body, and an autopsy would later confirm more than 80 stab wounds. Drag marks across the park suggest he was attacked, beheaded, then moved deliberately into the roadway. Meanwhile, at the patrol car, an officer works to confirm the suspect's identity. Bro, what's your name?

Hoel? How's seen your other time? So this is what he gave me. I don't know if you guys find any dedication. Lays you said he would feel a lot on. But start right. Yeah. As word spreads of the suspect's identity, one officer realizes this isn't the first time he's dealt with Joel.

Do you know what the suspect is? Science. It's Joel. Huh? It's Joel. He's the one that Code 5 Bex wrote. Death to him is in his own blood and signed his name. Eight weeks before this incident, Joel went on a vandalism spree in Los Cruces.

He smashed the windows of two local businesses, and inside one of them, officers found walls covered in homophobic slurs and hate-filled messages, written in marker and smeared with blood. Damages totaled thousands of dollars, and surveillance cameras captured Joel disappearing into the night. He was arrested days later and charged with multiple felonies, but was released. pending trial, a clear warning of what officers would encounter just weeks later. Joel is transported to the Las Cruces Police Station and placed in a booking cell awaiting the detective's arrival. When they arrive, they waste no time and begin his interrogation, hoping to get a confession. But Joel has different plans.

Joel? Yes, sir. I'm detecting on the Los Los Los Angeles Police Department. This is my partner, Detective Lockridge. You feeling all right right now? Oh, no. Okay. What were you doing at Apataka Park this past night? You don't know? Who were you there with?

Tell me what you do know, Joel. Tell me what you do know. What happened? What did you get on your hands? What's that? You don't know what you got on your hands? And you don't know what you were doing in Apataka Park night. I wasn't in Apataka Park until I got called.

That's what the officer's found. So why do you think you're here? Joel. You guys brought me here. I'm asking me why are we brought you here? Oh, I do. I don't know. That's what I'm not to ask me. Huh? I don't know. You asked me.

Joel refuses to talk, and for the next 30 minutes, he gives detectives nothing. It's clear he won't break that easily, so they decide to give him a break. In the meantime, they collect his bloodstained clothing, DNA samples, and photographs, then begin digging into

his past, and finally discover why Joel is so good at deflecting. Years earlier, officers were called to the townhouse motel after reports of a shooting. Inside, they found 21-year-old Benjamin Montoya dead on the floor with a gunshot wound to the chest. The man arrested at the scene was Joel Arseniega Sands. He was charged with first-degree murder, but there was one problem. The weapon was missing. Months later, the gun surfaced at a gun.

after a robbery arrest, and with no way to prove who pulled the trigger on Benjamin, the charges were dropped. Joel walked free. When Joel returns to the interrogation room, detectives have a new, unorthodox strategy. They use his history of writing homophobic slurs against him, suggesting the victim was his boyfriend, hoping to provoke a reaction and get him to confess what really happened. Joel, I'm just trying to find out more information about James,

So, was he your boyfriend? Were you guys dating each other? Okay. Were you guys in some kind of lover's quarrel? Yeah. Oh? Who's that? Like, because he's your boyfriend, you guys got in an argument.

I told me that. Just what I'm getting. Just getting me that. You tell me, man. I'm not calling you, yeah. I'm not judging you. I'm married. You're married?

Yeah. Who are you married to? Are you married to James? Are you trying to insult me? Huh? Are you insulting? No, I'm not insulting you. I'm not calling you gay.

I'm not calling you gay, though. I'm not calling you gay. I didn't call you gay, just... I said, I'm... Are you married to James? No. Who told you on me? Okay.

Well, I'm trying to find out why James is dead in a park and you were... I have his blood all over your hands on. I don't know. Where are you getting... I'm not lying about anything. You're telling me. I don't know they're everything.

I'm not acting like a child. Yes, right. Okay. Oh, f-h-h-do. So then tell me about James? Tell me about James. Is that why you're pissed? Because James thought you were gay?

Yeah. Did James hit on you? Yeah. You make some kind of advance towards you that you didn't like? I don't want to fight you. I don't want to fight you. Well, it's... Well, it's...

I don't want to fight you. No, don't call me. No. Not calling you gay. Oh, he's the shit. Okay. Here's what I think happened. You and James are no relationship.

He said something to you. And you killed him. Where did you care? Is your wife know where you at right now? Does she know that you're sleeping in the park with another guy? No, I was not. You told me earlier you were sleeping in the park. You and James are the only ones in the park.

I didn't do that. That's exactly what you told me. It's on the camera. Literally know what you did. Which one know why you did it. So why did you kill that guy. On game day, pain can hit hard and fast, like the headache you get when your favorite team

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Ask your pharmacist at this product's rate for you. Always read and follow the label. Your wife. When did this happen? Four years ago. Four years ago? Yeah. Okay.

Was that reported? No, we were homeless. What's it? They were all homeless. You guys are all homeless. Homeless, I'm sorry. Those are our bags. Yeah, you're stealing from us.

Okay. Which backs are yours? I'll stay back next one tomorrow. You're two friends. Okay. I wanted to get them back. I just tried to take a vehicle with a gun on me. You saw it.

So, yeah, I haven't made my face that way now. And what else did you do? I cut his head off. I dragged somebody down the street and then get that self-proof is that. You played soccer with his head? Yeah, thank you for that passing course. I told him what you knew there.

I appreciate that. I appreciate you being honest with us. You want a cigarette? Like you see what I'm going to do before you up that? See you like that. Good you guys your cigarette. Right. Within minutes, Joel loses his composure and admits to the killing.

He claims James Garcia had sexually assaulted his wife years earlier, that he pulled a gun on him, forcing him to act in self-defense. But when detectives searched the scene, they found no weapon, and later confirmed, there was no record of a marriage, no victim, and no report of any assault. It was a story entirely fabricated by Joel to justify what he'd done. The interrogation ends there, and Joel is transported to the Donia Anna County Detention Center, where he's formally charged with first-degree murder. Over the following years, the case stalls after Joel is declared mentally incompetent to stand trial and placed under psychiatric evaluation. During that time, investigators learn

that Joel has suffered from schizophrenia since the age of 11 and had been off his medication for years. It wouldn't be until March 2025, almost four years after the killing, that he's finally ruled competent and brought before a jury. After a week-long trial, the jury finds Joel Arseniega Sains guilty of first-degree murder. He now faces a life sentence in the New Mexico Department of Corrections.