近距离内射合集

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in August asked Attorney General Ra煤l Torrez to consider prosecuting a Catron County trapper who killed a Mexican gray wolf after trapping it on public land.

Instead, Torrez鈥檚 office required him to get an app.

William Nelson, permitted to set traps as a public safety and depredation control officer with the Catron County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, was ordered by the New Mexico Department of Justice to download the onX Hunt app. The app shows private and public land boundaries, according to a pre-prosecution letter obtained by the Journal.

The wolf was caught in July 2025 in a trap set by Nelson on public land, 300 yards from legal traps he set on private property, according to a Catron County Sheriff鈥檚 Office report. Nelson told authorities he put a sleeping bag over the wolf鈥檚 head as he and a rancher tried to free it, and it died.

A necropsy found the wolf died of suffocation, complicated by its airway being blocked by food it regurgitated while being restrained. Photos with the incident report show the wolf alive, caught in the trap, and its body after being killed, along with the military-issue sleeping bag. Nelson said he tried to 鈥渞evive the wolf," and the necropsy found blunt force trauma to the organs possibly caused by CPR attempts. It listed the proximate cause of death as entrapment and the immediate cause as asphyxiation.

Nelson, who has been previously permitted to trap and kill wolves, was also investigated in a 2013 wolf killing. In that case, Nelson shot a yearling female wolf he said he believed at 250 yards was a coyote. He told authorities the wolf had killed a calf nearby.

Setting traps on public lands has been a misdemeanor crime since the state Legislature passed Roxy鈥檚 Law in 2022, named after an 8-year-old heeler mix fatally injured by a trap set on public land. Since the law passed, 23 wolves have been caught in private traps around the state, not including wolves trapped as part of the management program.

Nelson could not be reached Thursday. Torrez鈥檚 office did not respond to multiple emails seeking comment. The Catron County Sheriff鈥檚 Office also did not respond to emailed questions and a call seeking comment.

Emails and records obtained by the advocacy group Western Watersheds Project showed the Department of Wildlife sought to file charges against Nelson in the 7th Judicial District, which declined to prosecute, saying 鈥渋t would be impossible to convict at a jury trial an accidental killing of a wolf in Catron County.鈥�

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also declined to file federal charges in the killing. The Department of Wildlife sought a venue change and NMDOJ prosecution as 鈥渁 fair trial will not be obtainable in Catron County.鈥�

In an Aug. 14 letter to Torrez, Lujan Grisham stated Nelson, a depredation contractor working for CCSO, had set the traps for coyotes in response to recent cattle kills. The letter states that after trapping the wolf, Nelson 鈥渄id not await professional assistance鈥� to release the animal, smothering it with a sleeping bag in the process.

Nelson set the trap illegally on public lands, 鈥渨hich ultimately caused the lethal take of a federally and state listed endangered species,鈥� according to the letter.

鈥淚 request that you assess these facts and decide whether prosecution is warranted in this case,鈥� the letter states.

As part of the pre-prosecution agreement offered by NMDOJ, Nelson agreed to download the app and shared a photo of the app on his phone with Torrez鈥檚 office.

NMDOJ said in the agreement it would not bring charges against Nelson and close the criminal investigation with prejudice. The agreement read, 鈥渋f the terms and conditions as outlined are later violated, the NMDOJ will seek to file charges in respect to this incident.鈥�

Lujan Grisham鈥檚 office declined to comment. A spokesperson said the letter from the governor 鈥渟peaks for itself.鈥�

Greta Anderson, deputy director with Western Watersheds Project, said the wolf killed was AM2765, an alpha male of the Frieborn pack. He and his mate had puppies in 2025, she said, and were likely teaching them 鈥渢o hunt and exist in the wild.鈥�

鈥淲e just don't know what the effects of that were, but you can be certain that in a species that has such tight family dynamics, losing the father was probably a big deal.鈥�

Anderson said the illegal trapping case against Nelson was 鈥渃lear cut鈥� as the wolf was collared and the trap location was known. She said the outcome was an 鈥渁ppallingly small penalty for somebody who should have, could have, done better.鈥�

鈥淭o have to download an app to your phone is not a sufficient penalty, in my opinion,鈥� Anderson said.

She said in recent years there had been 鈥渁 lack of enthusiasm鈥� from the federal government in prosecuting cases of wolves being illegally trapped or killed.

鈥淏ut this creeps over to the state of New Mexico,鈥� Anderson said, adding that she believes the Department of Wildlife and Lujan Grisham tried to get something done. 鈥淲hen agencies are recommending prosecution and the AG doesn't follow through, that's shocking.鈥�

She said there is a 鈥渃allous disregard鈥� for wolves in places like Catron County 鈥� where the wolf management area covers one of the most heavily ranched portions of the state.

鈥淢ost people will be horrified to think of an endangered species, choking on its own vomit under a heavy sleeping bag. That is a fate that's unacceptable for animals, and there's more humane ways to manage wildlife than that,鈥� Anderson said.