Albuquerque Journal: Police open up on search of Ron Erwin properties

Earlier this week, the Albuquerque Journal offered the first comments from police on the search warrants executed at properties owned by Joplin businessman Ron Erwin last month in connection with the West Mesa murders:

On Monday, Police Chief Ray Schultz for the first time provided details of what detectives brought home from Missouri.


"There are business-type records and photos that will all be reviewed by hand," Schultz said. "And then there's the forensic evidence that will be examined by the crime lab folks. There are literally tens if not hundreds of thousands of photographs: hard copies, negatives and pictures on discs. It's going to take a lot of time — at least a month — because of the sheer volume."

Schultz said authorities have been able to establish that Erwin had visited Albuquerque around the time of the State Fair during the years some of the women went missing.

That time of year is significant because most of the victims were on a list of missing women who had struggled with substance abuse and led a shadowy, transient lifestyle that included prostitution. With the State Fair often comes an increase in prostitution.

The chief stopped short of calling Erwin a suspect in the case, and he declined to discuss further specifics of how Erwin wound up on law enforcement's radar.