Today Judge Brett Loveless sentenced Craig Smith to Life + 60 years to be served in the NM Department of Corrections for the murders of Terry Williams and Josephine Ortega, his elderly aunt.

Smith entered his elderly aunt’s residence under false pretenses to steal approximately $80,000 in cash. He then used zip ties to bind her hands and feet and then placed numerous plastic bags over her head and secured those plastic bags with duct tape, thus suffocating her. She was discovered by a longtime friend the following morning. Smith was sentenced in that case to Life + 45 years to be served in the NMDOC.

Smith was sentenced to Second Degree Murder for the death of Terry Williams. He will serve 15 years behind bars for that crime.

The sentences imposed in both cases are to be served consecutively to one another.