A New Mexico woman has admitted she nearly decapitated another woman in a brutal sword attack, and prosecutors are alleging that her former boyfriend is the one that put her up to it.
Kiara McCulley, 22, had plead guilty to aggravated second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the 2022 killing of Grace Jennings, the Santa New Mexican reported. In exchange for the guilty plea, McCulley will receive a 30-year sentence and will testify against her boyfriend, Isaac Apodaca, in the case.
Police have asserted that Apodaca coerced McCulley into committing the murder, the newspaper reported.
When police found Jennings body in the detached garage, the body had "several puncture wounds consistent with being stabbed by a sword," and Jennings' neck "appeared to have injuries consistent with attempts to decapitate," the Albuquerque Journal reported.
The newspaper reported that McCulley told police that Apodaca ran a society called "Ghost." Apodaca sent text messages to McCulley that indicated she'd "move up in the ranks" if she killed Jennings, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
"I am wanting you to kill her, you have to end your suffering by ending her joy," the newspaper quoted one text message from court documents.
Court records have indicated that Jennings and Apodaca might have had a romantic relationship previously, but the New Mexican reported that Jennings's mother had disputed this.
