Sword and Scale - Episode 324

Episode Date: October 26, 2025

In the mountain valley town of Questa, New Mexico, a group of teenagers spent a summer afternoon the way so many do: unsupervised, a little bored, and pushing boundaries. But by nightfall, 13-year-old Amber Archuleta was dead. What followed was a tangle of grief, blame, and questions about the adults who were supposed to be keeping them safe.Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

Sword and scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. We don't have another place to go. You got better? You appreciate there as a dead girl on your porch, right? Yeah. I don't have an option either. 15-year-old Frankie Archiletta is running as fast as he can.

Each step kicks up a cloud of dust as 104 Cabresto Road shrinks behind them. That's where police were supposed to go, but they missed it. And now Frankie has to find them. His lungs burn, partly from the running, but mostly from panic. Finally, he sees the red and blue lights getting closer. Frankie frantically waves his arms, trying to flag them down. The cruiser barely slows to a stop before Frankie jumps in the back seat. Stop right here, this turn.

This turn here. The door, the gate. Yeah, there's two gates. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just go in. I know, dude. I'm going to my fucking hour. It's July 28, 2023, and earlier in the afternoon, multiple calls came into the Questa Police Department.

A 13-year-old girl has been shot somewhere on Cabresto Road. But his dispatch tried to confirm the details, everything blurred into confusion. Wrong addresses, contradictory witness statements, even someone mentioning that the shooting was a drive-by. By the time police and EMS arrived, they weren't sure which house was the right one. I swear to God. She's the other thing. I don't know. She's on the ground.

She's on the ground there. Somewhere. Open the damn door. They're locked. Open the damn door. They've already wasted precious minutes. They've already wasted precious minutes. Meanwhile, Frankie's sister is bleeding out.

They can come by if they want or they can patrol the area. I have a possible suspect vehicle of a black Yukon-tinted windows node 28. Frankie and the growing squad of Questa police officers run towards the patch of dry dirt near the back porch attached to the house. All of the properties off Cabresto Road are rural and sprawling. They're plots of land with blurred borders, spotted with prefab homes and sheds, farming equipment, broken down vehicles, and herds of fenced-in farm animals. By now, there's a group of police officers huddled around Frankie's sister, Amber.

She's lying face up, her wound bleeding into the dry ground around her head. Frankie is frantic, to say the least. Everything happened so fast. He hasn't even had time to call his dad and alert him. Relax. Relax. I don't know. I don't know. She's life?

She live? Go ahead. Come down. Roll up to 55. I'm back you up. You need to back up. You need to back up. You need to back up, dude.

No. You need to back up. No. Tell me. Tell me. Are you there? Hold on. Hold on.

If Amber dies, the call to his father will be much more difficult for Frankie to make. Their mother just passed away the previous year. Frankie can't bear the thought of telling his dad they've lost another family member. She's still alive? I'm telling Mike. Where's the ambulance that? I don't think you guys dispatched the residence. What happened, guys?

She saw it. She stole the pulse. She stole the pulse. I don't care. I don't have to happen. I'm fucking, oh my God. What are we doing, Trave? Please hurry up and fucking get someone here. They're on the way. Frankie wasn't the only person who witnessed the shooting. Crouching next to Amber's lifeless body is 14-year-old Kiana Gonzalez.

You can hear her crying. She's been on the phone with 911 dispatch. Her hands covered in blood. She's sobbing. And at some point, she got bit by a dog. Her medical needs are obviously not the top priority, but she doesn't care. Amber, the girl dying on the ground, is Keanuana's girlfriend. Where did this happen?

Right here? Oh, we'll get a word over there, and then I don't know what happened. Go ahead. We do have the ambulance coming from Redover. Red fucking river. Also, we did pay you out Quest to fire and go fire. So much for fucking them. You know, if anyone's in the air,

do you want me to get with a carol? She's gonna be a fuck out? You know what I'm gonna get it. Is there anything I can get it? She still has a pulse, budd. And I'm gonna have to ask you, bro. What you're doing right now is not helping. I'm gonna need to either go sit down over here

or just give us a second, okay? You don't need to be upset. My sister. I understand, but what you're saying, I understand, but what you're doing right now is, I understand, but what you're doing the same thing if it's your sister.

I understand, but what you're doing right now is not helping okay i'm not trying to be an asshole to you are i'm not trying to be an asshole too i'm trying to help you buddy okay this what you're doing right now is helping please go over there with them like i can do much well here's the there's the thing dude the medics are on the way all we can all we can try to do is is keep her alive while the medics are here she is she has a pulse so you need you it's pretty good so can you please just go over there and let us do our job please it's okay it's okay it's okay but i understand you're upset i totally get it okay put the cats put the cats inside what do you feel pulse

All right, guys, we're gonna need you to back up, please, please, please. No, guys, being here is not gonna help, believe me, let us do our job. Let us do our, let us do our job, Travis knows exactly what he's doing. Travis knows exactly what he's doing. I understand, I understand. She alive. The closer you are, does she, go on, home, huh, does she have a pulse? She has a pulse, okay?

Yes, she has a pulse, right now. I just need you, I just need to step back for a second. I understand that you love her, we're gonna do everything we fucking possibly can to help her, okay, I promise you, I promise you that, okay. It's okay, it's okay, I understand your math. I understand you're mad, girl. I'd be mad, too. Let go.

Buddy, I'm going to need you to step back because they're working on her. Let them work on here, okay? Stop yelling at them. Stop freaking out. Just let us do our job, okay? Frankie stumps off, deciding it's time to make that dreaded phone call to his dad. Meanwhile, EMS still hasn't arrived. So two of the officers start giving Amber CPR.

Say, keep your arms straight and use your body weight. Don't wind yourself out too fast. Come on, Amber. See if you can get everybody's information and just start taking statements. I mean, I know it's fresh and everything, but at least identify everybody, please. Officers begin asking around, who owns the house? It isn't Amber's family's property. Within a few minutes, they confirm it belongs to 39-year-old William Brown,

an employee of the Taos County Jail. As far as anyone knows, William is still at work or on his way home. He definitely isn't here yet. His son, 14-year-old Porfirio Brown, was hanging out with his three friends at the house when all of this went down. There were no adults around, but 14 is an age where a lot of parents feel comfortable. leaving their kids at home alone. None of that changes what's happening in front of them.

Amber is slipping away, and precious time is running out. Paramedics have still not arrived. I can't. While one deputy does CPR, another gently tilts Sambor's head from side to side, looking for the bullet entry or exit wounds. I can't find anything. It's not right there on the eye on the socket? What I'm wondering about right here?

Yeah. I just don't want to push. Yeah. Another ten minutes go by, and they take her pulse again. There's come on Amber. I don't feel I don't feel anything anymore I don't feel anything anymore

this is you got shot on the road I don't know I think so finally they can see an ambulance pulling up. How long has CPR been in progress? About 10 minutes now. And it happened at 1332. Is that what we heard?

Yes. So we're down 20 minutes. Down 20 minutes. That means it took paramedics about 20 minutes to get there after the 911 call. But no one knows how long she'd already been lying there before the call. The officers who were working on. saving Amber can now leave the task to the paramedics while they gather evidence from the roadway, the spot where the kids said everything happened.

The fact that the gate was closed makes me think it was that it happened over here, somewhere. And if they were shooting out the driver's side, I'm going this way. What's like possibly with a blood right here? I'm not sure if that's oil or blood. She said she wasn't bleeding into the shot There's no way something like it didn't come out Kiana is the only one around now Frankie has runoff to talk to his dad on the phone

Porfirio is missing in action And none of the parents are on the scene yet Despite the terrible timing All of this is about to change As deputies walk back to the spot where Amber's body Is now covered with a sheet They hear the news Go ahead and downgrade to Code 1

And all units Not on the scene Go ahead and downgrade to Code 1 Okay So we're going to shut it Shut down, clear the scene Let's get some tape

And Start taping everything off To tape everything off Put the unit in the road I want to block off Whatever we can At the worst Possible moment

Frankie and Amber's grandma Pulls up in her Red sedan Their dad is in the front seat Do you have the father walking in now. He's got carpenter knee pads on a blue t-shirt and a baseball cap. Well, I'm trying to block everything off from right here, so I need you to kind of go back,

please. Well, I'm sorry, I'm not. Hi, sir. I understand, sir. Can you talk to me for just a couple minutes? The EMS just pronounced her deceased. Oh my fucking God, man. She's gone. What? She's gone. Can I please go see you. And just like that, the worst thing imaginable is no longer a possibility. Instead, it's reality.

It's July 28, 20, 23, in the rural town of Questa, New Mexico. 13-year-old Amber Archiletta has just been pronounced dead outside of her friend's house. She's been shot in the face. Three other kids were there when it happened. Her brother Frankie, her girlfriend. Keanu and her friend Porfirio. They were all childhood friends, rural neighbors, you could say. They all lived within walking distance of each other's houses, and hangouts like today

weren't abnormal. The kids tell police they all saw someone in a black SUV drive up and shoot Amber while they were all walking together near the road. This is Porfirio Brown's house, and his dad William works for Taos County Jail. talking to him is critical his dogs are trampling all over the scene and one of them has already bitten two people not only that but the layout of the property is set up so that herds of sheep block access to other fenced areas detectives need access to the whole property and they need william to corral the animals and there he is finally he's standing at the front of the house his cell phone placed to his ear porphyrio is standing just a few feet away. Portfielio, can you get the dog in the house, please? Okay.

Where can we put the dog that it won't be biting people? I understand, dude, but we need... I understand that you're upset and everything, but we have to get the dog off the property. We're going to have about 15 police officers here in about five minutes. And if your dog's not off the property, it's going to be a problem, dude, can you please get the dog in there?

All right, bro. They're going to be walking all through this area. And they're going to be getting bit by your dog over and over again if you don't get it off the property. William Brown, like we said earlier, works for the Taos County Jail. So he's no stranger to hierarchies of authority. But now his property is the subject of an investigation. And somehow he easily slips into the role of someone who's at more run-ins with the law than moments working alongside them. What happens next isn't going to make him any more cooperative.

You just said to come here. Oh, to me. Now. Yeah. You know your son? No, he is. Yeah. Step out of the way.

Wait. Let me talk to him. Just let me talk to him. Just let me talk to him. Hey, come on, dude. Brown. Brown. Trying to fight, so.

Hey, wait. Guys, guys, just let me talk to him. Stop. Let me talk to him. Just let me calm him down. Let me help you get him up. Where's going to make you? He doesn't have anything anymore.

It's just part of the policy and procedure. You want to stand up? I'm going to drive your other shoe, all right? You got to calm down. You got to calm down. You were swinging, bud. He wasn't even on it. You went to look at us with it.

Where are you taking him? To a unit. A unit is just a patrol car, to be clear. But William doesn't care. Seeing his boy in handcuffs is all he needs to go into a full-blown Papa Bear mode. We haven't even seen half of it yet. For what? That's all anti-clercats.

I think it's pretty obvious. Well, that, but what, he didn't do nothing? Yes, he's detained, I didn't seem to be there. He's been detained with us, that's it. That's going to be in the end of it, okay? He's not leaving, no road. He's just going to sit in this. You guys can't bring him to the house, the unit to the house?

No. Because it's a crime scene. I can't, I can't met anyone in it. So that's the other thing. How long is this going to take? As long as it takes. I can't give you an answer. I know, but what are you, how long is this going to take?

Because, you know, we don't take any, it's going to hold on. Got to hold on to you, okay? We don't have another place to go. You got better? I mean, you appreciate that there's a dead girl on your porch, right? Yeah, I don't have an option either. As they walk back towards the house, William starts to yell at Porfirio not to talk to cops.

Interesting timing. He also yells at the officer escorting him, telling him not to talk to his son. Never mind that he hasn't been Mirandized yet. Big Daddy, William Brown, is on the case acting like Porfirio's statement. and in attorney. If the attorney was, Saw Goodman, that is. Then he started running.

He wasn't going to run. He started running. There's no pleasant. He's going to load up and swing on us. Really a little kid? Yeah, right. Really a kid? Guys.

Hey, you have a few sucks, man. And? Don't not square up with him. Stop. Stop. I'm not. You're clearing up to him. Well, he's telling him.

I have to put him. But what do you expect? You have a dead girl in your, like, you know, like, you know how you understand the severity of this? I do. Sure. Go that way.

I've been trying to cooperate with the crops. Hold on, hold on. Well, they're taking him. He said, I could walk with you guys. They need to calm down. I am. I don't want to put you in cuffs. I wasn't even talking to them.

And I just told him to leave so he didn't aggravate you anymore. But you can't keep doing this because then I'll put you in cuffs. And I don't want to do that. You've done nothing wrong. Well, let's walk over there. They're still talking to it. It doesn't matter. Once they get Porfirio in the back of the squad car and away from the adults,

the state police, who have been on the scene for a while, have to explain everything to William. and his girlfriend, Ashley, well, as much as they can, that is. Would you be, could he give us a statement? I wasn't even. Okay, so you just got here just now, or did you just get here after this day? Yeah, I was at work. When my son called me about it happening. Did you sell you anything, anything like that?

He just said that there was a girl that was shot, and he didn't know what to do. Did he say who shot the girl? You can't go, Ashley, you can't go there. Did he say, we shot the girl? He said a black SUV. Oh, I'm trying to get to my family. Black SUV? Yeah.

That's all he said? I, well, he referred to it as, he said it was a black SUV. He's all he said. I don't know, was it a Yukon? I can't remember because we referred to it as another girl's car, Delilah's, that her family drives that car. But it wasn't that vehicle. It's just the way, because that's what he told me.

He said it was a car that looked like Delilah's. And did she look like Delilah's? Yeah. Look at that's another girl that lives in town. She has nothing to do with that. But it's, what's Delilah's car, her mom's? It's a non-ean. Yukon, an older one.

But did you see who shot him? No, he never said, he just told me the vehicle. He didn't tell you who it was? And I, he told me that that happened. I was at work, and I just left. And then everything else was done with, because of PD there. So there was nothing else that he told me. other than, you know, we've been cooperating the whole time until now.

Appreciate it. Because this guy asks us take off his pants and stuff and we put him in a bag there on the counter for you. He was basically watching to the window. Yeah. He's actually insinuating that one of the officers was creeping through the window enjoying the view of Porfirio removing his bloody pants and putting them in an evidence back. Also, ain't it weird that the guy who keeps asking the same questions over and over again, just like his son, by the way.

Questions which have been answered, mind you, was content with his son only giving him vague details about the dead girl on his property. Weird, right? So Mr. Brown, this is who I am. I'm a agent of Falcrum. I'm in New Mexico State Police. I'm the case agent for this case.

Okay. I know you said that your son had already spoken to a lawyer. So then we'll get a hold to him and see what he wants to do. All I can tell you is that this is all brand new to us. We just showed up. I understand your frustrations, but let us do our jobs. I can promise you, all I'm here for is the truth. So right this second, he's just being detained.

I'm going to get a hold of Mr. Gower. So why is he being detained? Because of preliminary information, preliminary information that we've received has given us the right to detain him. the right to detain him for right now. I can't, I can't, there's a lot of, there's a lot of stuff that I can't tell you. I'll tell you as much as I can. I'll be as straight up with you as I, as I can, but there's just information that I don't share and that just, just to protect the integrity

of the investigation. I'm the case agent, the buck stops with me, okay? So if you have any questions, by all means, call me, but right now we just have a lot, a lot of other stuff to do that's all preliminary, so we don't have a lot of information either. But the initial stuff that we do have gives us the right to detain your son. William has already noticed something strange, though. His son, Porfirio, seems to be the odd one out in his group of friends. And when are the other one going to be picked up? As soon as I get to that point.

Bottom line, I can't give you a time frame. Do you know where they're at? They let them leave, I have no idea. Okay. Ashley, don't say anything to nobody. I'm not saying anything to anybody. The attorney's already saying. I just want to explain something to her.

Okay, I'm just. You can listen, Ashley, but you don't want to speak until the attorney speaks. I'm not going to ask her any questions. I'm just telling you. Mr. Brown, I understand your frustration, but let us work. Well, yeah, I'm not seeing. I just said, no, and I appreciate that, but. That's where we're at, okay?

If this family of Cairns is so insufferable with a dead girl on their porch, can you imagine what the local Walmart supervisor has had to put up with over the years? Heesh. Everything happened so fast, just like the shooting. But before police gave William this vague explanation, they'd already spoken to Frankie and Keanu. While the kids waited to give their official statements, one officer happened to be standing near a car.

The door was open. Kiana was talking to her mom, and what she said to her changed everything. This is going to be a little bit hard to hear, but we're going to play it anyway. You think this quick at this time, we're sitting in the station, listening to the music, and that's when it started warning it.

As a reaction, as the reaction of the way, you're going to go, like, try to move their heads and shit, and she did that. And look, I see a little flash the touch. The fucking dumb-ass operator is being so stupid. Of course I'm going to freaking freaking out. And she's like, come in again, shut the fuck up. Shut up, just fucking listen.

The hardest you can. I don't know what the fucking tell you. And then she tries to tell me, if you have any form of ID? I'm fucking 14. If I tell you, I was born in 2009, the fuck is that? Hello. This dumb bitch's friend just murdered someone, but she's mad at 911. Instead, yeah, there's a lot of that going around.

Anyway, in the beginning of this clip, if you listen real close, you can hear what she told her mom. She said, everything was perfectly fine. We were all sitting in his kitchen listening to music, and that's when he pulls out the gun and starts pointing it. Will you look at that? Turns out New Mexico State Police had a really good reason to detain

Porfirio Brown. Okay, so go ahead and tell me what exactly what happened from the moment before she was shot. Okay, what were you guys doing before she was shot? Oh, we were all chilling having a good old time

when we just like went to the backyard and like we're done nice and his goats and shit and we ended up going to the front and we ended up going back into his house and then next to you know he pulls out like it's a revolver the one that has like a spinning barrel okay he pulls out one of those a handgun yeah he pulls that out so just to just to get it straight you guys are you guys are in the back of the house right you're hanging out playing with those at first we were perfectly fine just chilling nothing wrong and then we ended up going inside when he pulls out that gun and I was like dog don't even do be doing that because that could

be loaded he was also and then he ends up pointing it at her and she went and she wants to go like like take it away from her face right all of a sudden you just hear a boom I look and I see your fault in the crowd so he shot her in the face with the handgun yeah I think so where where were you guys when he shot her with the handgun um well yeah I think uh the kitchen you guys were inside the house when it happened? Yeah. Were they joking around? Was he mad at her?

What was the reason for him to pull the gun out? I don't know. You're not sure? Everything was perfectly fine. Everyone was joking, laughing. And he pulls it out. I don't even know where he got it from. And then he goes, he goes, like, because, like, how it was, there's a table against

the wall, and, like, I was standing against the window, and she was, like, standing right there in the middle, and he points that at her. And so she, like, went to go, move it. and that's when you just hear the loud bang and a little bit of a light and then she drops and next thing you know she just starts to bleed okay next thing you know when like she does fall we all look and then that's once to freak out and he was like let's take her to the back and then he's all the call 911 and i was like panicking so it took me a minute to get my phone out of my pocket and just to dial in general okay and finally we were able well he was able to get her

out and then me and Frankie were standing out there with her, well, Porf went somewhere. I don't know where. You just took up back into the house? Yeah, I think so. I'm not sure. Guys, guys, guys. Before you get outraged, remember, it's the gun's fault. The inanimate object murdered this girl, not the ignorant brown kid growing up in gangster culture.

With the approval of his ignorant brown gun-owning parents who weren't even home at the time, Remember to assign your blame in a proper woke fashion, everyone. Good. Now that all the idiots have left and stopped listening. Let's continue. While all this was happening, a detective pulls out his radio and quietly cancels the Bolo alert. Hey, what's going on? Hey, can you do me a favor and cancel that Bolo for that black SUV?

Yeah, we kind of already did. Okay, perfect. Okay, any other updates or nothing? So for right now, state police is on scene, their IV guys are out here, their crime scene guys are out here. So it looks like they'll probably end up taking this one over from us. Uh-huh. But we do have possible suspect in custody. Uh-huh.

And we're going to be turning them over to state police. Okay. And so, yeah, I don't think we have anybody, any other suspects outstanding. It isn't until much later during a follow-up interview that Kiana explains why she didn't tell the truth from the beginning. So there was a story of a vehicle driving by. Yeah, he made that story of whenever he shot her and took her outside. What did he tell you about that?

He tried to make up the story that the drive-by happened right next that dumpster in front of his like on the road, Tracy had a drive-by happened right there and her brother went to his house freaking out about it and they ended up dragging her over there. But that's not even close. Okay. So was he telling you guys to say that? I think he wanted us to. Or he was just saying that version? Was he on the phone at that time or something? Yeah, I think he was. Okay. Who do you know who he was on the phone with? I It might have been one of his parents, I'm not sure though. So he made sure that you heard him talking on the phone when he gave that burden.

Yeah, because he walked around me and her when I was still next to her on the floor. And he ended up saying, like I heard him on the phone. It was a drive-by, all of a sudden some car passed by and they shot her. Did he ever ask you to move her down anywhere? He did ask us to help him pick her up when no one else. when no one else helped, because that's, that's fucked up. And where, what did he want to do? I don't know if he, like, wanted to, like, take her outside and, like, hide the whole fact that he shot her.

Well, I mean, if it was talking about a drive-by, that makes sense. Because later on, like, even, like, when he was on the phone with his dad, even told him that he didn't shoot her. Assigning blame to a random third party? Weird! That's not at all. all what criminals do. I guess now would be a good time to play the beginning of that 911 call for you. What's the location of your emergency?

What's the fucking location? Hello? Oh, my shot. Give me the address. Golly, please. Give me the address. What's the address? God, you're yelling and I can't understand.

Thank you. Please, fucking hurry. What happened? My girlfriend got shot. Your girlfriend? Yes. Where does she get shot? In her nose.

By her nose? Okay. Okay, what's your name? My name is Kiara. Okay. Amber. Is she alert? Is your girlfriend alert?

She's fucking unconscious right now. Please fucking hurry. Okay, we're going to get somebody out there right now. Now, stay on the line with me. Don't hang up. Don't hang up. Don't hang up. We're getting somebody out there, but don't hang up on me, okay?

Oh, please. Oh, come on. Hello? Just keep her comfortable, okay? Oh, I think, I don't know if she's, I don't know how my voice. Sir? Yeah. Is she still unconscious?

She's breathing. She's breathing. She breathing. Sir, is the person that shot are still there? Yeah, wait, no, they drove by. It was a drive-by? Do you know who they were? No, I wasn't even really around where I was up in the film.

Okay, do you have an idea of what kind of vehicle maybe? No, ma'am. Okay. I'm not sure, though. I'm not sure. Let me ask you something, and I want you to rub those two brain cells together real hard and see if you can come up with an answer. If you had just watched someone murder someone else, would your first instinct be to cover for them?

If so, kindly fuck off and unsubscribe now. Now, let's hear what Frankie says when he's confronted with these inconsistencies. At what time to tell you guys about the taking her to the road? That's when she was actually outside, outside. That's when she was already outside. Yeah. And you guys had called 911 yet? I think right when he like kind of like drug her out to like the final spot he kept saying

he said that and I was like no and then I called in okay but you but you and Kiana and porf all three talked about a vehicle driving by about Amber being shot from the vehicle they drove by I know I don't know about DJ but I don't remember me saying you do and I know Porf did I yeah he I know he did. So what did you hear, like, did he tell you that story? He kept, I kept hearing him saying, like, help me, help me. Because he was gonna, like, his dad was gonna, like...

And he was on the phone when he was saying, help me? No. Or who is he talking to? So, like, trying to tell us to, like, help him. Okay. All right, and what did Forf do with the gun? I have no idea. That's one thing I don't know what he did with after the fact.

Do you know what Russian roulette is? Yeah. Was he playing that? No. You're positive? I'm positive. Kids can be pretty stupid, as evidenced by this detective's question about Russian roulette. If the false story about a drive-by came from Porfirio, it might seem strange that Frankie and Keanu went along with it.

But these four kids were close. Frankie and Porfirio were best friends. His best friend had just shot his sister. And in that moment, Frankie wasn't thinking about justice. He was thinking about damage control. He didn't know exactly what had happened, but he knew one thing for sure. It had to be an accident, didn't it? The story Frankie Kiana and Porfirio gave to the police has completely fallen apart.

The black SUV simply didn't exist, and the real shooter is now sitting in the back of a patrol car. Porfirio Brown is 14 years old and he had access to at least one gun. For some reason, he pointed it at a 13-year-old named Amber Archuleta in the face and pulled the trigger. They're 14 years old at that. All of them know they're all class sweets, all of them. That was my daughter's girlfriend. Yeah, to have that happen. These were classmates.

They lived in the same neighborhood. They were childhood friends. Porfrio's father worked for the Taos County Jail. In the past, he was even a guide for the Hunter's Safety Course. The family should have known gun safety like the back of their hand. Should have been second nature to them, because in many ways, it was their job. So when he pointed it at her about how far away was, About?

Probably about like this. So did she approach him to get the hold to the gun? Well, she was like this and I don't know if they went closer or what, then like they started struggling like this and then like in time they started getting closer. Yes. And what was he doing with the other guns? You said he'd- I'm not sure if he was just pulling him out to show him off to see if he was cool or what, but he just pulled him out.

And he didn't do nothing with them, but then he ended up doing, I think he put him on the counter or something. I don't even know. Because I thought, like, generally he was a really chill guy. Like, we always used to hang out and chill, have a good time. He was, like, always the homie. Yeah. Never really thought anything bad about him, thought he'd do anything bad. Like, I always knew, like, he always, like, like, to, like, beat people up if they, like, disrespect him or whatever.

But I didn't. So he liked to fight? Yeah. But I didn't. I grew up in espion. That's not that big of a deal. But I didn't think he'd ever, like, pull a gun out on someone, like, actually, like, show. with them and he never and he was never mad about anything yeah everyone was laughing having a good

time everybody was just having a good time do you feel like he meant to do this i don't know because if i think about it he didn't seem mad or anything but then why would he have his finger on the trigger just do that so i don't know did he ever do you ever know of him to pull guns out on somebody else and other people i've heard about it but i wasn't sure if it's true you've heard about it but you've never seen it yeah is he known to carry a gun it's i'm not sure about like all the time but sometimes yeah sometimes like what kind of got well even before whenever like everything happened in the rich on the car he pulls out like maybe a block i don't know but it's like mini handgun black and then he also had i think a rifle in the car but and do you know does he hunt stuff like

that? I think he does. Yeah. Does he talk about that a lot? Yeah, sometimes. Has he ever talked about hurting anybody else? No. No. No. I mean, when he used to talk about beating people's ass before, but other than that, not like gun violence. What 14-year-old needs to be carrying around a pistol? And why didn't anyone teach them the rule that every gun owner knows?

You never point a gun at a target that you don't. don't intend to shoot. You know, and I'm really upset because he's, you know, I know him. You know, I know him and the wife and everything. And, you know, I never knew that he was a guide, but you would think he would have known better being a guide in the hunter's sake of horses and stuff like that. He's got several guns in that house. I'm sure you've seen a lot of guns in that house.

Like lots of guns. They're just a patriotic, gun-loving family, right? But after the shot was fired and Amber collapsed, Porfifers, Barrio didn't run for help. He didn't call 911. He started cleaning up and staging the scene. And he just had her by her arms and no one was helping him. And he just started dragging her.

What do you mean he wanted you guys to help? Did he say something? Whenever he first grabbed her under her arms, he was all, help me. Help me. We just looked at him. I guess maybe still in shock or something because no one helped him. And then so he takes her to the porch, or did he take her all the way to where she was? He took her, he stopped her at the porch.

That's why there's some blood there. Right. And then he dribb her off there. And he got on the phone right away. And I know this is tough, but do you remember a lot of blood being in the house? You said he cleaned up? Not sure how much, but it's probably a decent life. And you could tell that he cleaned because there was a mop bucket and there was like there was like a little streak of blood next to the mop bucket.

But it's how he tried to hide something. But one thing is whenever I did end up going back to talk, whenever they moved me from the cop car, it did seem like he changed his clothes. Okay. So a second ago you said you didn't know if he hit or did something with the guns. Yeah. Like multiple guns. Yeah. So what do you mean by multiple guns?

Because even at first before everything happened, he even pulled out like an AK and, it seemed like an AK, it looked like it, and then some sort of other gun, I don't know my guns, but it was like about, I would say maybe about this, maybe a little bit bigger, it was camouflage, and they were full rounds. Like, the clip was full, but I don't know if there was one in the chamber, he ended up putting those away, and then that's when he pulls out the revolver. Did he threaten you guys at all? Were you scared of him? In that point in a moment, I didn't know what could have happened. Like, he probably could have if he really wanted to. That's the question, isn't it? Did he really want to hurt Amber? Or was he just a dumb kid trying to look cool in front of his friends?

Here's Frankie again. Do you know Forfe to carry again? Sometimes. I mean, besides a rifle. Once in a while. Once in a while. You know, it's coming out a lot. He's actually been pointing that gun at a lot of the kids in the community.

And I'm curious about that as well. And, you know, some other people said that only the kids knew. But last weekend at the farmer's market, you know, there's a little program for the kids to look there. But I guess it only went around the kids. But he had the gun in his thing the whole time here at the farmer's market. But nobody knew except the... Have you seen him point a gun at somebody else? No.

Are you sure? You can be honest with him. Yeah. I've got that nice. Okay. This is all starting. to paint a clear picture. None of the adults knew it at the time, but Porfirio had apparently brought a gun to work at the local farmer's market. He'd been known to show off his guns,

pull them out, and even point them at other kids. And now, a girl was dead. The escalation couldn't have been more obvious. To anyone that was paying attention, that is. But as far as evidence, I feel very strong for our case. I can't tell you exactly what he'll be charged. I mean, I can tell you exactly what he's been charged. It's called an open counter-murdered. That is a, you know, that's kind of an all-income, you know, that's kind of an all-income, the same charge.

Now, Porfirio has to face the full weight of the law. His dad might see him as just a kid, but when you kill someone, the law doesn't always agree. Oh, and the dead girl and the dead girl, girl's family, don't care how old he is. The word of the day, on sword and scale here, is irrelevant. Say it with me. Irrelevant.

William Brown was focused on his son's legal battle. What he didn't know was that he was about to become the first person charged under the new state statute. By the end of the day, both father and son would be in handcuffs. The law is called Benny's Law, and it took effect in June of 2023, less than a month before Amber's murder. It's been nearly two years since tragedy hit Washington Middle School in Albuquerque and just rippled throughout our community. What should have been a harmless schoolyard argument turned deadly when 13-year-old Benny Hargrove was shot and killed by a classmate. Witnesses say Benny was just standing up to a bully, and police say that teen was able to bring them to school because it wasn't story. properly at home. This year, state lawmakers

passed the Benny Hargrove bill in an effort to prevent another similar tragedy, and today that new law officially is going into effect. Democratic Representative Pamela Herndon spearheaded this bill as one of the sponsors. What we are expecting as a result of Benny Hartgrove bill

going into place is that parents or adults who have responsibility for firearms will absolutely restore those, will store them safely so that children or minors do not have access to them at all. Do House Bill 9 acts as a gun safety bill?

If a kid gets a hold of their parent or guardian's gun and commits a crime, that caretaker can be charged with a misdemeanor. The purpose was not necessarily to punish adults, but the purpose was to make sure that they are thinking about what they're doing. Gun fanatics, and by gun fanatics, I mean those nutty Democrats that want to take away everyone's constitutional right to self-defense will never admit that conservative gun-right activists are more critical on gun safety than anyone else.

If you have a kid, especially a teenage boy, and you're not locking up your guns properly, then you deserve everything that's coming to you. Unless William had his eyes glued to the news, he probably had no idea that unsecured firearms could now land him in jail. You see, he wasn't paying attention. But whether he knew it or not, William Brown had just become a test case.

And the thing is, the guns were all over his house. Big Macho Grande. In that one? There's probably like seven or eight in that one, too. Are you needed to do sign there? We're good. We're good. We're good with this side.

All right. So I have here a return of inventory. I'll have you signed. we have just secured a bunch of firearms, okay? We didn't take any firearms, but we secured a bunch of firearms because there was a bunch just laying around. And with that new law in place, they can't just be, like, I guess, unsecure enough. Loaded, unlocked, and accessible.

As you just heard, there weren't just one or two guns lying around. deputies found at least seven firearms in a single bedroom. When they locate William Brown to explain the situation, he stands stiff, his arms crossed, wearing the blank, defiant stare of a toddler who knows they're in trouble, but doesn't think it's fair. So here's the thing, okay? I need you to understand that we're just, we're doing our jobs. We're going to do our jobs, best of our ability.

We've got information. about what all took place and as far as a black SUV it's not that's not that's not enough okay does that make sense if you're saying I don't I can't tell you because I was that one okay and I get that but um another thing that you need to understand is there's a lot of guns in that house right and none of them are secured I have a few that are out you have a few that are out Okay, with that, with that right there. Have your hands, put your hand, lying your back. I don't understand, I think you need to explain it to you?

Point one is a knitting making a firearm accessible to a miner, resulting in grade by the harm or death. So the third degree can happen. Yes, so. But it was a life on heart. That's, that, we have enough problem cost to actually to really that list that underwent stuff. Yeah.

The bottom line is that it was normal for the Brown family to give their kids unfettered and unsupervised access to deadly weapons. It was your firearm. That line hits hard, but was William thinking about the girl his son killed? Or was he already thinking about how to protect himself and his son, Porfirio? Before the ink could dry on his charging documents, William started spinning his own version of events, one where he was the victim.

Not the dead girl, him. Within minutes of his arrest, the whole group was on speakerphone with his employer at the Taos County Jail. Hey, I don't know what you call, Danny and see. They're arresting me because there was a shooting at my house. And they're saying, yeah, for negligent of a lot of firearm, I'm insecure.

I don't know the state police I mean cuffs already so he's holding the phone now and I'm just calling you to they said maybe if I see a judge so if you can call the judges maybe I can get out tonight okay so what are his sergeants then so as like he explained

he had a weapon that was not secure his son had access to that weapon and a 14 year old girl was shot and killed okay while he waited for his first court appearance something must have gotten lost in communication because Taos County had placed him on leave

but he showed up to work anyway. During the time he was there, he had a lot to say about his case. We were still getting the letter. I was trying to find a way to put him on administrative leave without pay. I don't want him sitting out there We're doing it

Our own internal investigation for policy violations We're procuring universal to do the investigation I don't know we've been assigned yet But we're going to look at our own policy violations And I'm going to Outside of what you guys are doing

And then the other thing that just struck me And so I just told Jason And you may have to interview the shift this morning, because I don't know what was relayed to the other folks on duty. Because of the miscommunication he had yesterday, he showed up to work this morning. And then they pulled him aside and had him sit in the office when Jason handed him the letter that he was on paid administrative leave is when he mentioned. Anyways, I'm going to be back to work next week because there's no gun. They're going to drop all the charges and I'll be back to work. work. And then when HR conveyed to him, hey, this isn't about your case, this is about

policy infractions, he was like, oh. And, but I was thinking about it now, he disclosed that then RA's going to pay for his legal defense and he's not worried about it. And I thought, oh, to me, you need to hold your cards close. And just these little things, I know they're not lengthy conversations, but it's just interesting. Just interesting. Okay. William didn't seem to be worried at all.

He was convinced for some reason that they'd never find the gun, that the NRA would foot the bill for his defense, and that he'd be free of this whole inconvenient ordeal sooner rather than later. William Brown would be the first person in New Mexico tried under Benny's law. This added a political layer to the case. Even so, he was sure he'd walk. That it's not about a firearm. It's not about any firearm.

It's about the firearm used in the killing of Ms. Amber Archiletta. Brown testified in his own defense today, claiming none of his guns were missing after the deadly shooting. Prosecutors tried to poke holes in Brown's testimony by showing him a picture of a gun that was in his home that he didn't testify about. They reiterated investigators found unsecutioned. He secured guns around his home. What do we know?

Well, we do know that we had a house. It was the Brown residents owned by the Browns, and that the guns in there belonged to Mr. Brown. So we've got photos of the house and of the weapons and how they were secured. Jurors took just two hours to deliberate the first of its kind case. We, the jury, find the defendant, William Brown, not guilty of negligently making a firearm accessible to a minor, as charged in count one of the jury indictment for criminal information.

William walked out of the courtroom a free man, a real travesty of justice, if you ask me. But sometimes juries are full of idiots. So is earth, so it tracks. Had he been found guilty, he would have been facing up to 18 months in prison. which still seems to me a bit of a walk in the park for something so serious. For Amber Archoletta's family, it felt like a second blow. The man who owned the gun, who should have known better than to leave it available for his teenager to use, to flash around and brag about, had walked away, a free man.

But William wasn't the only one they wanted held accountable. William's son, Porfirio, the boy who pulled the trigger, was still facing murder charges. But I know the DA's office is going to try and have him charged as an adult. I would love that. But there's no guarantee that because of his age. I understand that. But I would truly want him charged as an adult just for the fact that he. Absolutely.

He tried covering it up and he drugged around and threw her off that porch like the dog. Absolutely. So I definitely want him to be punished to the fullest extent. And I'm doing everything I can. You know, at first I was on the fence about it because they were friends. You know, she was there because she trusted him, you know. But after him, what I seen him, you know, in the condition, I want him, you know, to the fullest extent. Porphyrio's first trial began in February of 2024, just a few months before his father's not guilty verdict.

Porfirio was 15 by this point and was charged as a youthful offender. It sounds counterintuitive, but this meant that he could be tried and sentenced as an adult. At trial, he faced charges of second-degree murder, tampering with evidence and attempted assault of a peace officer. Porfirio Brown, he went on trial for second-degree murder last week, but jurors couldn't make a unanimous decision. I think there was a lot of emotion from myself, my client. It's just you put in so much effort for these trials. You really believe in your defense. When a jury can't come to a conclusion, you can feel a little invalidating almost.

Bunker says the jury had questions about several pieces of evidence. First, the initial 911 call. The story has been that my kid wanted to create this drive-by story. But if you listen to the evidence on the 911 call, it's actually the brother who first tells 911 that his sister was shot in a drive-by. We'll let you decide the likelihood of Frankie coming up with a story on his own, versus the story coming from Porfiria, who didn't even think to call 911 and was instead busy cleaning up what he had done. Bunker says jurors also asked about a hug between the brother and Brown.

On body camera, while the girl is laying there dying, the brother actually comes up to my client and gives my client a huge hug. And so to me, that was very inconsistent because why are you hugging my client if he just shot your sister. Blood on the brother's arms also came into question. He has perfect circular spots of blood on his arm. He's got blood on the back of his elbow. He has a watch on.

And then he goes home. So he and the other juvenile witness, they leave the scene. And they're together at another location for over an hour. Eight jurors found Brown not guilty. Four thought he was guilty. But Bunker says they all agreed on one thing. Even the four that thought he was guilty said that they thought this was an accident.

and so what they're trying to charge him with is intentional murder. And all the jurors unanimously agreed that whoever the shooter was, this was an accident. District attorney Marcus Montoya says it's likely his office will retry the case. Guns and gun violence and gun control are very serious issues. And this was unnecessary and very traumatic loss of a young life. And we can never see that often enough or loud enough. Montoya might also have a personnel issue to address connected to the case. Bunker says the lead prosecutor wasn't there for closing arguments.

We were told she went to the hospital. The judge indicated he may have smelled alcohol on her breath. So I'm not entirely sure what happened there. There may be rumors about that. Nothing certainly that I can verify. And even if, you know, we conduct an investigation to find that anything like that was a potentiality that would be an internal and personnel issue for me to deal with. Bunger. What an unfortunate name.

Then again, who am I to judge? Biday. Anyway, rather than face a second trial, Porfirio accepted a plea deal in August of 2024. He pleaded guilty to one single count of tampering with evidence. In exchange for accepting the deal, the remaining charges including second-degree murder, were dropped. He was expected to serve a year of probation, and by the time, this episode airs, his punishment will be over. His victim will still be dead. In the end, the courtroom decisions can't change what happened. Amber Archiletta is gone forever.

She was outgoing. She had no fear. If there was a hill, she'd climb it. You know, her and her brother, you know, riding their bike. She was the one popping the wheelies and ramping and stuff like that. I just want him to remember her for the sweet little thing that she was. You know, like I say, she touched a lot of people, and I just wanted them to have those good memories of her. Amber took her last breaths in the dry New Mexico dirt that afternoon. She was only 13 years old, full of creativity, making her way through adolescence,

and surrounded by kids who were supposed to be her friends. This story isn't about a teenager making a horrible mistake. it's about the environment that allowed it to happen. Adults who never want to take accountability and leave weapons out within reach, laws that arrive too late, and the culture that trusts children around firearms more than the car keys or voting ballots. Oh, and also really fucking dumb juries. Because who the hell wants to get out of work to go do that shit?

especially if you have a good job and like it. Imagine that. Well, we're all taught in rural areas like this gun safety. Yeah, that's what we all know gun safety. And that's part of our, you know, our culture. That's how we're brought up. I grew up in Española and Chamita. Yeah.

And it was no different. You know, I knew how to handle a gun from an early age. And I knew that you don't point a gun at. Something that you're not willing to shoot. But knowing the rules doesn't mean everyone follows them. You see, being an adult, not to mention being a parent, requires that you get off your ass and actually do things that are inconvenient from time to time. Like, oh, I don't know.

Getting a gun safe, actually using it, and actually teaching your dumb kids about gun safety, and about what not to do with a deadly weapon. But who has the time when you're busy yelling at the Walmart manager and asking repeatedly why the root of Vegas aren't on sale? They were last week, so why aren't they this week? Are you starting to see how that works? Well, that does it for another episode of, What the fuck is that guy's problem anyway?

Or, as I like to call it, sword and scale. Thanks for joining us. If you like the show, you can get a video version of it. We call it Sword and Scale television, or just Sword and Scale, really. But it's available, 20 episodes of it. now at swordenscale.com. You can get it on tier two or tier three of our plus subscription platform. It's a great way to support the show. Another great way to support the show is to buy a t-shirt or a baseball cap or a pair of boxer shorts or a pair of socks from our store at store.

At store.sword and scale.com. But before I forget, this is news you want to hear. This is good news. First of all, we're going to be gone for a little bit, but then we're going to be back And then next year, we're going to have season three of something we like to call Sword and Scale Nightmares. We're going to be. I'm going to be. So, you know, ...toe,

...toe, ... I don't know. So, you know, and the I'm

. We're going to be able to be. I'm going to be. We're going to be able to be. I don't know.