Who was Diane Albert? New Mexico judge and her pets fatally shot by husband in suspected murder-suicide
BERNALILLO COUNTY, NEW MEXICO: Police are suspecting that a respected New Mexico judge's spouse fatally shot her before turning the handgun on himself. Judge Diane Albert of New Mexico was found shot dead along with her pet animals at her residence after the police uncovered an unusual message from her husband who was also discovered dead at the same spot. It is believed that the husband left a frightening message for a friend.
According to the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office, Albert, a municipal judge for the Village of Los Ranchos, was believed to have been killed along with some of her pets in a murder-suicide that her husband, Eric Pinkerton, is suspected of having committed. When a friend of the couple reported getting a "troubling message" from Pinkerton, investigators searched for Albert, 65, and Pinkerton, 63, as per Jayme Fuller, a spokeswoman for the sheriff. “He left a voice-mail to his friend stating that he murdered his wife and his dogs and his cat. And he is about to murder himself,” a dispatch pieced together by local news station KOAT-TV read.
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The dispatch was verified by an NBC News report from the sheriff's office which also informed that Albert had recently enrolled at the University of Mexico to study French. Over the weekend, city officials held a funeral for her in the aftermath of her death. “We are heartsick hearing of the untimely death of Diane Albert, our elected municipal judge,” said Los Ranchos Mayor Donald Lopez and Village Administrator Ann Simon in a joint statement. “She was a longtime Los Ranchos resident, a brilliant legal mind, and a friend.” The Albuquerque Journal reported that Albert was also a qualified patent attorney. Joe Craig, one of Albert's neighbors, expressed his shock over her death. For a number of years, Craig, the president of Friends of Los Ranchos, served on the planning and zoning committee. “Just a nice, nice lady,” he said. “I’ve never seen her with a mean bone in her body.”
Who was Diane Albert?
Diane Albert was a former planning and zoning commissioner for the North Valley neighborhood and served as a municipal judge for the Village of Los Ranchos which borders Albuquerque. According to the Albuquerque Journal, she had also held positions as president of the Bike Coalition of New Mexico and a commissioner for Los Alamos County.