Closing arguments heard in trial of Jacqueline Vigil’s alleged killer

Feliz Romero | KOB

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The trial of Luis Talamantes-Romero is in the final stages. He is accused of killing Jacqueline Vigil in her Albuquerque driveway four years ago.

After seven days in court, the defense brought up its only witness Tuesday afternoon. The defense took 30 minutes to question former APD detective Jesse Carter.

It’s worth noting – Carter is in the middle of a whistleblower lawsuit with the city because of this case. That’s why Carter’s time on the stand wasn’t long, and questioning was limited. He said his commander ordered him to review the case in March 2020 even though he said he didn’t want to be involved.

In his testimony, he said he reviewed the case before Kyle Hartsock, who was a case agent with the district attorney’s office at the time. Carter said he never actually saw Talamantes-Romero’s interview and he was directed to review only the file that was handed to him.

Carter said, in his opinion, the file was not complete and there was missing information about the investigation. He said, at the time, he did write up that he felt they needed to look into more people. He handed over his report to his commander, and the lieutenant and sergeant on the case.

During Carter’s cross-examination, he state pointed out that he was given the file before the DA’s office took over. Hartsock had taken the stand last week and mentioned he took over because he didn’t think it was going in a good direction.

Carter said he doesn’t know what the DA’s office file had when they took over and he doesn’t know what they ended up investigating.

After the last witness, closing arguments were heard Friday afternoon.

The jury will begin deliberating Wednesday morning. To watch the closing arguments in full, click here.

Read more about the trial here: