[Narrator] A gruesome discovery in a local junkyard
upends a small New Mexico town.
[Carlos] The face was all skeleton.
The individual in the toolbox had been deceased for a while.
The pathologist was able to retrieve a small business card
inside his shirt pocket.
There was a name.
[Andrea] He was described as a generous man
who just kind of kept to himself.
[Narrator] Investigators zero in on a well-known troublemaker
with family ties.
He was a loose cannon.
He was always getting into trouble with the law.
[Narrator] But the investigation will ultimately expose
an unimaginable betrayal even closer to home.
His health was declining.
She would help him clean and cook.
She was supposed to be taking care of him.
[theme music]
[Narrator] Fort Sumner, New Mexico
is a high desert town with deep Western roots.
It's where actually Billy the Kid supposedly's buried.
It's a town for about maybe a thousand people.
Small, tightknit community.
Pretty much nothing to do over there,
unless it's family oriented.
[Narrator] On the evening of October 15, 2020,
Chad Abeyta, his father, Louis, and Chad's young son
are poking around a makeshift dump site
behind their rental home.
[Shawn] Only a handful of individuals
had access to that trash pit.
This town's so little,
we didn't have direct access to a dump
all the time, we kind of had to make do with what we had.
[Kenneth] They observed a toolbox or tool chest
that looked really nice.
This type of tool chest normally goes behind a pickup truck.
They were like, oh wow, it's a pretty nice toolbox.
I mean, I could have use for this.
[Narrator] When Chad moves to lift the toolbox,
it won't budge.
It was so heavy that he couldn't pull it out himself.
So, they ended up getting some straps
and they pulled it out together.
[Jerry] When they opened it up,
there was blankets in there.
When they were taking the blankets off,
that's when they saw the skull.
They're all like, man, back up.
We're, we're dealing with something else here.
Let's call 911.
[Narrator] The De Baca County Sheriff's Department arrives,
followed quickly by New Mexico State Police.
[Carlos] Based off the decomposition of the body,
it looks like the individual in the toolbox
had been deceased for a while.
[Kenneth] Based on the facial hair, the clothing,
it appeared to be a male.
The skeleton remains had duct tape wrapped around its mouth.
It also had duct tape wrapped around its wrist.
[Jerry] As soon as I saw the tape,
I knew at that point in time, we're dealing with a homicide.
[Narrator] The medical examiner is called to the scene
to collect the remains.
There wasn't any identification on him,
except there was a medical card.
The pathologist was able to retrieve a small business card
for a doctor's office
with an appointment inside his shirt pocket,
with the name AJ Harden.
The toolbox with the body inside was then transporte
to the office of medical examiner.
We did not have the 100 percent confirmation, but we had a name.
So, we're trying to find out who is AJ Harden.
[Narrator] Born April 2nd, 1938,
AJ Harden grew up in Fort Sumner.
After a stint in the Navy,
he married the love of his life, Virginia.
[Shawn] It was your classic 1960's American marriage.
They would take good care of each other.
It was very loving.
AJ worked in the lumber industry, cutting branches.
And after that, he was a truck driver,
and he worked across the country.
They moved back to Wellington, Texas,
where Virginia's family is from
They had three children, Shane, Tommy and Candy.
Tragically, Shane passed away in his childhood.
In the early 2000's, they moved back to Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
Once they lived in Fort Sumner, they started a hamburger stand.
AJ, Virginia and Candy, Senior
all helped with the hamburger stand.
[Narrator] Eventually, their children grew up
and started families of their own.
In 1982, their youngest daughter, Candy,
welcomed a son, Aaron,
followed by a daughter, Candy Jo.
[Eric] Virginia and AJ were thrilled to be grandparents.
They loved having their family around them,
and Virginia loved having everybody there in her home
for every holiday.
[Narrator] But Candy struggled with motherhood.
Candy, Senior tried to maintain the relationship
with Aaron and Candy Jo's father.
That didn't work out, he was not involved whatsoever.
[Eric] In the '90s, Candy started to also struggle
with addiction.
[Shawn] Candy, Senior had some demons,
and she really, truly didn't know
what a healthy relationship was.
Arron was eight years older than Candy Jo.
He pretty much grew up with his grandparents AJ and Virginia.
Candy lived with her mother off and on
throughout her younger years.
And when she wasn't living with her mother, AJ and Virginia,
provided a roof over their head.
[Narrator] Candy Jo flourished
under the care of her grandparents.
[Shawn] She was the shining star of the family.
Candy Jo, she wanted to play volleyball in college.
She wanted to get a degree.
[Narrator] Arron, on the other hand, battled his own demons,
and he soon left his grandparents' home.
Arron always kind of been the wild one.
[Summer] Arron was always getting into trouble
with the law.
He had been caught breaking and entering,
and it was always a worry to Candy.
She never fully trusted him.
[Narrator] As Arron slipped away,
Candy Jo's mother entered recovery
and came back into her life.
Candy, Senior was very proud of Candy Jo.
She was the apple of her eye. She could do no wrong.
In those pre-teen and teen years,
Candy Jo and Candy, Senior
started developing a relationship,
a better relationship than they had when she was a child.
[Narrator] In 2012, Candy Jo graduated from high school.
With her family's support behin her, she was poised for success
[Shawn] She had a full ride to the University of the Southwest
to play volleyball.
She was probably the first family member to go to college.
[Narrator] But, in the middle of her freshman year,
Candy Jo's world came crashing down
when her mother passed away from a sudden illness.
She took a break from school
and returned to her grandparents' home
on Lake Fort Sumner.
Despite her doing all these correct things
and following through,
life kept taking things away from her.
[Narrator] Back in Fort Sumner,
Candy Jo caught the eye of 27-year-old Shawn Perkins.
We met at a rodeo, there in Fort Sumner.
We kind of developed a relationship
through our life goals.
We didn't know our place in life quite yet,
and we kind of strived to figure that out with each other.
AJ and Virginia were very kind and generous.
They welcomed me like family.
Once me and Candy Jo started dating,
it wasn't too long before we moved in with each other.
And Candy and I learned that we were having a child
kind of unexpectedly. And, uh, we let family know,
and, AJ and Virginia were very excited.
Um, so were my parents.
[Narrator] But what should have been a joyous time
soon turned tragic in the spring of 2016.
[Shawn] Age started creeping up on AJ,
and Virginia had Crohn's Diseas and she was a little iller.
After Candy got pregnant, shortly after, Ginger passed.
Her grandmother was the sole person in the family.
AJ was heartbroken, but he was very spiritual in that he knew
this wasn't gonna be the last that he's gonna see her.
[Narrator] Another blow came
following the birth of Candy Jo's daughter in 2016
when AJ was diagnosed with cancer.
Candy Jo would spend majority of her time
taking care of our daughter and her grandfather.
[Narrator] Eventually the pressure proved to be
too much for the couple.
Candy started pushing us away.
She shifted into the party crowd.
It felt like her interest wasn' being a mom anymore at the time
and the void between us just grew and grew.
[Narrator] By 2019, the relationship
was beyond repair.
[Shawn] I packed up both me and my daughter.
I thought it would be in the best interest
for me to get custody,
due to me being the stable one.
She agreed.
[Narrator] Shawn and his mother moved in together
a couple of towns over from Fort Sumner,
while Candy Jo returned to the home of her grandfather.
She did mention his health and how it was declining,
and Candy didn't know how much longer
she was gonna have with him.
[Shawn] She would help him clean, cook.
AJ was very, very happy that she was there.
[Narrator] But on October 15th, 2020,
it appears AJ's end has come sooner than expected
when his potential remains are found in a trash pit.
Given that the body had likely been there for weeks,
the chances of finding anything useful are slim.
When you're doing a crime scene you never really know
what is exactly important,
so you're taking pictures of everything
and you're looking at everything.
We did see a trailer there.
And on that trailer, it had a flat tire.
We didn't know whether it has
something to do with the investigation or it doesn't.
We thought, was this the trailer that was used to
haul out the tool chest?
From the minute that we saw the trailer,
it just looked like anything else.
But at the same time, it was still out of place for us.
[Narrator] Investigators turn to the family of Chad Abeyta,
the man who found the body and lives on the property.
While Chad did not witness the trailer's arrival,
he says his son did.
Weeks ago, he had observed a white pickup truck
hauling a trailer, and they left the trailer there.
He was unsure of whoever was driving the white pickup truck.
[Shawn] The trash pit was accessible to anyone
that knew it was back there,
but it was not visible from the road.
[Kenneth] One of the questions that I asked the Abeytas,
did everybody have access to this mini landfill/pit?
And their answer was if they do have access,
they have to get permission from the homeowner.
[Narrator] The boy's mother chimes in.
She tells investigators there i one name that comes to mind...
Arron Harden.
[Jerry] She told us the owner of that residence
would allow Arron Harden to go there and be a handyman, per se.
Clean the property up
and allowing him access to the pit at any time.
[Kenneth] After learning about Arron Harden,
I go talk to one of the deputies who was still on scene,
and I asked him, who is Arron Harden?
Turns out that Arron Harden is, he's a local.
He does have his run-in with law enforcement
every now and then.
And that's when he told me AJ Harden was Arron's grandpa.
[Narrator] Coming up,
the search for Arron Harden proves difficult.
Did he decide to take off? Was he fleeing from us?
[Narrator] And in an unexpected twist,
is AJ Harden actually alive?
We were completely shocked.
Was that AJ inside the tool chest
or was he in a retirement home?
[Narrator] After finding a toolbox
containing human remains in a makeshift dumpsite,
New Mexico authorities believe they may belong to
83-year-old AJ Harden.
In the front pocket of the shirt was a doctor's card.
It said, next day appointment with the name of AJ Harden.
[Narrator] Investigators learn that
AJ's 38-year-old grandson, Arron Harden,
is known to use the trash pit.
Arron Harden had dumped trash there previously.
He did chores there.
Is he the one that placed the trailer out there?
Is he the one that took the tool chest out there?
That was a lead.
[Narrator] After locating Arron's last known address,
investigators head to his home.
[Jerry] We met with, uh, man who was the owner of the residence
who lived with Arron.
We told him that we were looking for Arron.
And he told us that he wasn't there,
that he was currently in Arizona.
Did he decide to take off?
Was he fleeing from us?
[Narrator] In the midst of trying to track Arron down,
they get an update from the autopsy.
[Andrea] They could not determine the cause of death
due to the fact that the body was so deteriorated.
[Narrator] However, the ME is closer
to confirming the victim's identity.
The doctor did observe a hip replacement.
His hip replacement had a serial number on it.
[Narrator] While awaiting confirmation
from medical records,
investigators work off the assumption
that AJ Harden is the victim.
[Kenneth] We decide just to hold that information
so we don't jeopardize the integrity of the investigation.
[Narrator] The day after the autopsy,
they reach out to the owner of the rental property
where the body was found.
The residence was actually owned by a lady named Brenda Moyer.
Uh, but she was renting it out to the Abeytas.
And so, investigators went to speak with her.
[Kenneth] I asked Brenda, who is AJ Harden?
And she said that AJ Harden was a very nice man,
he's an older man.
He's the grandpa to Candy Jo Webb and Arron Harden.
Brenda Moyer described Arron to be a very nice guy.
He helps her out around the house,
he helps her throw out trash into that pit.
[Narrator] And that's not the only connection
she makes for detectives...
Her son, Shawn Perkins, had a daughter with Candy Jo Webb.
[Narrator] Investigators ask to speak with Shawn.
Shawn tells detectives that he and Candy Jo
used to live in the home where the body was found,
and that Arron often used the dump.
[Shawn] We all kind of viewed Arron--
he was a loose cannon, if you will.
It wasn't unusual for him to be gone for a period of time.
[Narrator] When they ask Shawn about AJ,
he says that he and Candy Jo ha a very special relationship.
[Shawn] AJ unconditionally loved her,
and he was very happy that
he was around his great granddaughter.
[Narrator] Shawn reveals that a couple of months prior,
in late August,
Candy Jo made a difficult decision
regarding her grandfather's care.
[Shawn] Candy texted me, asking me,
would it be a bad idea for my papaw, or AJ, to go to a home.
I told her that, it's between you and him.
So, I texted her one day and asked her,
did you send AJ to a home?
And she told me, yes, I did.
[Kenneth] We were completely shocked.
Was that AJ inside the tool chest?
Or was he in a retirement home? Where is he?
At that point, we wanted to interview Candy.
[Narrator] Investigators place a call to Candy Jo on the spot.
She agrees to meet them at Brenda's
and arrives shortly after.
We asked her if she knew who the person
that was found inside that toolbox was.
She told us she did not.
[Andrea] When asked about her brother Arron,
she talks about how he is always in trouble.
She doesn't directly say that he's involved with it,
but she definitely insinuates that.
[Narrator] Candy Jo says that
she tried to keep her distance from Arron,
but he continued to come around the lake house.
The reason that she said she did the no trespass order
is they just weren't getting along,
and she didn't want him around the property or her daughter.
She was worried about him taking advantage of AJ
and maybe even her.
[Narrator] Detectives ask Candy Jo about her grandfather.
She stated that she had placed AJ Harden
in a retirement facility
just outside Willington, Texas.
[Narrator] Candy Jo says the facility
is about six hours away,
but she can't recall the name.
[Jerry] So the fact that she doesn't remember
where she dropped him off, big red flag.
Big red flag.
[Narrator] As they wait for Candy Jo
to find the name of the nursing home,
investigators look into the no trespass order
she took out on Arron.
[Summer] She was very protective of AJ.
He was that parental figure
that she never really got.
[Narrator] They find body cam footage
from multiple visits to the lake house
in the months prior,
including an arrest over the summer
for an unrelated charge.
[Jerry] He was there to serve
a simple misdemeanor arrest warrant.
He knocked on the door. Someone opened the door,
and it ended up being Mr. AJ Harden.
We learned that Arron was still living there at that time.
[Kenneth] Arron came to the door.
He was extremely cooperative.
[Kenneth] During the course of arresting Arron,
Lieutenant Gana asked AJ how he was doing,
and AJ disclosed that he was doing good.
We know for a fact in the summer of 2020
that AJ was alive, and so that was extremely important.
[Narrator] The footage also provides proof
that Arron and AJ appear to get along.
When he was, uh picked up on that arrest warrant,
his grandpa even gave him some money before he left.
[Narrator] On August 21st,
Candy Jo took out the no trespass order.
But records show that in the following weeks,
Arron continued to show up at AJ's lake house,
where he was met by police.
He was trying to make contact with his grandfather.
[Narrator] In an attempt to mediate,
the officer places a call to Candy Jo,
but she doesn't back down.
When AJ kinda got diagnosed with cancer,
and it was apparent that the end has come,
he deeded his house over to Candy Jo
because she was kind of the one family member
that was probably the most stable.
We were still trying to make contact with Arron.
We know that Candy doesn't want nobody
to have access to AJ Harden,
and we're still trying to find out the reason why.
At this point, both of them were a person of interest.
[Narrator] Coming up, an unexpected twist...
[Kenneth] I could not find the retirement home in Texas
called Shady Oaks anywhere.
Her story is all over the place.
[Narrator] A potential suspect hands over a lead.
[Narrator] New Mexico authorities
have located human remains in a remote trash pit.
While they suspect they belong to 83-year-old AJ Harden,
his granddaughter claimed that AJ was safe and sound.
[Eric] Candy Jo explained to detectives
that she had taken her grandfather to a facility
in Texas.
[Narrator] As authorities anticipate
a call from Candy Jo with the name of the facility,
they also await word from the medical examiner
for the body's official ID.
Meanwhile, Arron Harden is unaccounted for.
[Eric] Investigators know that there's one person
they still need to talk to, and that's Arron.
But first, they still needed to confirm
whose body was in the toolbox.
[Narrator] Eager for answers,
investigators reach back out to Candy Jo on October 20th.
[Kenneth] Immediately after hanging up with Candy,
I looked up Shady Oaks.
I could not find a Shady Oaks anywhere.
So again, that was another red flag for us.
At this point, Candy Webb's looking like our, our suspect.
[Narrator] With this new discovery,
suspicions around Candy Jo are mounting by the second.
Then, on October 21st,
six days into the investigation
officials receive much awaited news
regarding the remains.
We received a call from the Office of Medical Examiner
in Albuquerque.
They were able to identify him through a serial number
from a hip replacement.
And they 100 percent confirmed it was AJ Harden.
Her story just completely deteriorated and fell apart.
[Narrator] Investigators keep the identification
to themselves,
but use it to obtain a search warrant
for the lake house
where AJ was last known to live with Candy Jo.
[Narrator] The search turns up no new evidence,
but does inspire another phone call from Candy Jo.
Agent Villarreal received a telephone call from Candy Webb.
She was inquiring why there was a search warrant.
[Narrator] With Candy Jo lawyered up,
investigators begin reaching ou to those close to her.
Shawn told us that Candy Jo Webb had a new relationship,
a new boyfriend by the name of Garrett Beene.
[Kenneth] She didn't want to come in
without an attorney to speak.
So, on the same day, we decided
that we were going to locate Garrett Beene.
[Narrator] On October 22nd,
detectives arrive at the Beene residence.
[Narrator] They ask him about AJ,
but his response is unexpected.
Candy Webb had told him that AJ Harden had died
in his sleep a couple of months back.
We disclosed AJ Harden did pass away,
but it's not the way Candy Webb told him he passed away.
AJ Harden was dead in that tool chest.
I realized this was a lot more serious
than I could have imagined, and I felt dumb at that point.
I was just very blindsided.
Thank you.
[Narrator] Following the interview,
investigators release confirmation of AJ's death
to the public.
And the news reverberates through the small town.
Both me and my mother were in disbelief of it all.
We didn't understand what was going on.
[Narrator] The news does prompt an unexpected phone call.
Arron Harden finally contacts me.
Arron said he was currently in Arizona.
He, uh, learned that, that it was possibly his grandfather.
I did tell him yes, it's true.
[Narrator] He tells investigators
that the real reason Candy Jo had the no trespass order issue
was because he'd confronted her about stealing from AJ.
[Eric] They learned that Arron and AJ shared a bank account.
The day that Arron received a no trespass notice,
he'd discovered that Candy Jo Webb had been writing hot checks
using the joint account that he shared with his grandfather.
[Narrator] Arron says Candy Jo obtained the no trespass order
so he couldn't tell AJ.
But investigators now wonder if it was because
AJ was already dead.
[Kenneth] When we executed the search
on the residence days prior, we didn't see a tool chest there.
So, we were fairly confident
that we at least established the origin
of where the tool chest came from.
We just felt like Arron Harden was not involved,
just based on his interview,
based on his, the way he was explaining
the love for his grandpa, how detailed he was.
There's just more evidence piling up
that this was Candy Jo Webb who killed her grandfather.
[Narrator] Coming up, a concerned source comes forward
with a shocking new claim.
She had told me that he, um, had asked her to do it.
[Narrator] With her back against a wall,
will Candy Jo tell the truth?
[Narrator] Eight days after discovering
the remains of AJ Harden,
detectives have zeroed in on hi granddaughter, Candy Jo Webb,
as their main suspect.
The day after his first interview,
Candy Jo's boyfriend, Garrett Beene,
contacts investigators again.
Garrett wanted to give another interview with us
to establish that he wasn't involved.
[Narrator] Garrett and his attorney
meet with investigators on October 26th.
Garrett says that following his first interview with police,
he met with Candy Jo at a local hotel.
You know, at that point, I didn't know what to believe,
what was true or what wasn't.
You know, now I'm hearing a whole 'nother thing.
[Narrator] According to Garrett,
Candy Jo said that AJ had requested her help
in ending his life.
[Garrett] She had told me that he, um, had asked her to do it.
She'd given him Xanax and Ambien,
and he had passed in his sleep.
At that point, she ended up putting him in a tool chest
and getting rid of him.
[Narrator] Not only did Candy Jo tell him that she drugged AJ,
Garrett now believes Candy Jo called him in late August
as she was disposing of the body.
While she was, you know, disposing of trash,
she had Facetimed me because
the tire had blown out on the trailer.
I had told her, wait for me, you know, I'll help you,
but she was very adamant about just getting it done right then
[Kenneth] Once Garrett told us that,
now we knew that she used that trailer
to haul the tool chest with AJ's human remains in there
to dump it out.
[Narrator] Investigators believe Garrett.
[Kenneth] Coming forward with the information that he had,
at that point, we felt like he wasn't involved.
He was part of Candy Webb's lies like everybody else was,
and we cleared him.
[Narrator] With Garrett's statement,
authorities have what they need
We were now confident that Candy did murder AJ,
therefore we, uh, set an arrest warrant for her on October 28th.
[Narrator] But when they attempt to serve it,
Candy Jo is nowhere to be found
[Kenneth] Candy was no longer in the area.
At that time, Sgt. Hernandez reached out to the US Marshals
for assistance.
[Narrator] Investigators seize phone and financial records
to reconstruct Candy Jo's movements.
[Jerry] I was able to get a search warrant
for her cell phone and started pinging
in different places in Brownsville, Texas.
From then, she went to McAllen, Texas,
where she sold her grandfather's truck.
We saw she was using a prepaid debit card at the time.
Then she bought a Greyhound ticket
to go to Jacksonville, Florida.
[Narrator] For seven days,
authorities stay one step behind,
until she arrives in Jacksonville.
Through her credit card charges
US Marshals pinpoint the location
where Candy has decided to hole up.
That radius is around a local criminal element hotel.
Is she gonna be somewhere in that hotel?
[Narrator] On November 5th, 2020,
less than a month after the discovery
of her grandfather's body,
US Marshals make their move.
Candy Webb is coming out of one of the hotel rooms.
So, they follow her to a nearby convenience store/gas station
and they arrest her.
The Deputy Marshal that arrested her told me
that she didn't even ask a single question.
She was already expecting it.
[Narrator] On December 1st, 2020,
officers Hernandez and Villarreal
interview Candy Jo
in the De Baca County Adult Detention Center.
[Narrator] Instead of passing AJ's death off
as a mercy killing,
Candy Jo now says it was an accident.
[Kenneth] When I asked Candy
why did she tape AJ's mouth and wrists,
she told me because she didn't wanna look at his face
when she was moving him.
And taping his hands was the easiest way to move AJ.
[Narrator] But investigators aren't buying it.
It's just too many lies from the start of the investigation.
[Narrator] Coming up, Candy Jo hasn't run out of tricks...
They want to do an insanity defense.
[Narrator] The callous truth comes out.
He might have still been breathing,
and she probably suffocated him at the time.
[Narrator] The arrest of 27-year-old Candy Jo Webb
for the murder of her grandfather, AJ Harden,
sent a jolt through the tiny town of Fort Sumner, New Mexico
We didn't know where she was,
what she's going to do, how was she going to act.
So, when she was caught,
there was somewhat of a feeling of closure.
[Narrator] Shawn is in for another shock.
Three days after the arrest,
he gets a letter from Candy Jo.
[Shawn] The letter stated that
she didn't feel empathy for anyone,
that she is just a psychopath,
and that I need to protect my daughter from people like her.
[Narrator] He turns the letter over to investigators.
Prosecutors believe it's a ploy
[Andrea] Often, you will see defendants do this
because they're trying to
set themselves up for the ability to
have a defense of insanity.
[Narrator] Confirming their suspicions,
Candy Jo's attorneys request a psychological evaluation.
[Andrea] They want to get her evaluated.
And we were too close to trial,
and they hadn't followed the rules, in my opinion.
And I argued against it,
and the judge agreed with me an said, no, we are going to trial
[Narrator] As they prepare for trial,
prosecutors work with investigators
to formulate what they believe happened
when AJ was murdered.
They determine that no one had seen AJ
since Candy filed the no trespass order against Arron
on August 21st.
[Kenneth] The timeline that we built
was more or less that August 21st weekend
is where she probably killed him.
Ultimately, she did drug him to the point where he passed out.
[Jerry] She told us she was
covering his mouth with duct tape.
He might have still been breathing,
and she probably suffocated him at the time.
[Kenneth] At that point, she needed to get
the body out of the residence.
So, at that point she ended up taping up AJ's hands.
And she put him inside the, the tool chest,
placed it on the trailer,
and days later drove him out there
and threw him in that pit.
[Narrator] Tired of caring for her ailing grandfather,
Candy Jo was looking for a fresh start.
She hoped to get that by selling the lake house.
Candy was talking to realtors
to try and put the house on the market.
[Jerry] I think it was purposely done for monetary gain
because she has a new boyfriend.
They're going to have a bank full of money,
AJ Harden's money.
I always thought that was a very sad deal.
She was supposed to be taking care of him,
yet she just got tired of him.
I was planning on going to trial, first degree murder.
But about a week before,
they approached me about taking a second-degree plea.
And when I talked to the family members that were left,
they didn't want her to go to jail at all.
My understanding was she convinced them
that this was an accident, and they really believed her.
So, after talking with the family,
and due to the fact that the body was so deteriorated,
there was no way to determine whether it was an accident
or whether it was intentional.
So, because of those facts,
I decided to go ahead and accept the plea.
[Narrator] On July 27th, 2022,
Candy Jo pleads guilty to second degree murder,
fraud, and tampering with evidence.
So out of the 21 years possible, she received 18 of those.
[Shawn] With good time, she may be out in 12 years.
I don't feel that 12 years would be enough for someone
that did something so atrocious.
[Narrator] While the small town of Fort Sumner
still reels from Candy Jo's coldhearted actions,
AJ's memory remains alive.
[Shawn] AJ was a good, kind-hearted man
that experienced 10 lives in his one lifetime.
He deserved more than what he got.
He's lost children, he's lost his wife, he's lost friends,
but he maintained a happy and spiritual demeanor,
as well as being a great
great grandfather to my daughter.
[music]