Four sections, 24 pagesPasatiempo, 64 pages164th year, No. 81Publication No. 596-440Editor: Rob Dean, 986-3033, rdean@sfnewmexican.com Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010

Calendar A-2 Classifieds D-2 Comics B-6 Lotteries A-2 Opinions A-5 Police notes C-2 Sports B-1 Time Out B-5 Generation Next D-1Index

By Nico RoeslerThe New Mexican

The families of a man and womankilled in a fiery crash Tuesday innorth Santa Fe sayeach was a loving,caring parent.

Angela Sleboda,41, was apparentlydriving Eric Sverre,49, to a friend’shome that eve-ning to see somepet iguanas whenshe lost controlof her black LandRover, said CarmenQuintana, Sverre’smother.

Sverre had a14-year-old daugh-ter, Bella Sverre-Harrell, Quintanasaid, adding thatSverre “loved hisdaughter verymuch” and that thegirl is having a veryhard time dealingwith her father’s death. Sleboda had a6-year-old son, Leopoldo.

Santa Fe police have not releasedthe victims’ identities because theyhave not been verified by the stateOffice of the Medical Investigator,but Quintana and several relativesof Sleboda confirmed Thursday thatthe two had been killed in the one-vehicle crash on Tano Road.

Quintana said she saw both ofthem at her house earlier Tuesdayevening.

At about 7:15 p.m., the Santa Fepolice and fire departments beganreceiving calls about a crash near thebridge at Tano Road and Tano delEste.

Half an hour later, Quintanaarrived on the scene. “I knew theminute I got there,” she said. “I criedlike crazy.” By the time she arrived,the flames engulfing the Land Roverhad been mostly doused.

Police have not provided furtherdetails on the crash, such as whetheralcohol was a factor.

Quintana blames the accident ona hard-to-see turn onto Tano delEste from Tano Road. She said she

By Nico RoeslerThe New Mexican

The mother of Leland Valdez, a 3-year-old Pojoaque boy who died from injuriesin 2011, is claiming her boyfriend at thetime beat the child weeks before hisdeath.

Tabetha Van Holtz, 24, filed a motionin state District Court last week arguingthat her former boyfriend, Steven Gal-legos, 22, hit the child in a parking lot andthat the injuries from that beating con-tributed to Leland’s death Jan. 26, 2011.

Both Van Holtz, of Santa Fe, and Gal-legos, of Pojoaque, were charged withchild abuse resulting in death and sev-eral counts of child abuse resulting ingreat bodily harm.

The 2-year-old case, which has landedin state District Judge Frank Mathew’scourt — after bouncing around thecourtrooms of five other judges — mightbe split into two separate trials. VanHoltz and Gallegos are scheduled to betried together in July, but Van Holtz’s

The New Mexican’s Weekly Magazineof Arts, Entertainment & Culture

March 22, 2013

The New Mexican’s Weekly Magazineof Arts, Entertainment & Culture

March 22, 2013

A rubber pool, a dog and a Leica: Artist David J. Carol Inside

Locally owned and independent Friday, March 22, 2013 www.santafenewmexican.com$1.25

March sadness for LobosCrimson earns historic first NCAA Tournament victory with 68-62 win. SportS, B-1

By Julie Ann Grimm and Steve TerrellThe New Mexican

Two lesbian couples from NewMexico are asking a state districtjudge to allow them to marry.

The American Civil LibertiesUnion, as well as the National Cen-

ter for Lesbian Rights, filed a lawsuitThursday in state District Court onbehalf of the women from Santa Feand Albuquerque who were deniedmarriage licenses earlier in the day.

The court action against Berna-lillo County Clerk Maggie ToulouseOliver says the state constitutionand statutes on marriage do not pro-hibit same-sex couples from marry-ing and do not expressly recognizeor ban same-sex relationshipsthrough marriage or civil unions.

Santa Fe residents Rose Griego,43, and Kim Kiel, 44, and Albuquer-que residents Miriam Rand, 63, andOna Porter, 66, say they anticipatemore couples will join the lawsuit asit progresses.

“Marriage matters,” said Griego instatement issued by Equality NewMexico. “Kim and I have alreadymade a lifelong commitment to oneanother, but marriage says ‘family’in a way that no other word can.It’s important to us that the State of

New Mexico, our home, the placewhere we live, work and raised ourfamily, recognizes and respects ourrelationship.”

Kiel is a financial adviser, andGriego is a business manager for anonprofit environmental organiza-tion called Earth Care. They havebeen together eight years. Rand andPorter have been partners for morethan 25 years. The couples said they

ACLU joins gay-marriage pushthe pAth to ALtAr eqUALItyNewMexico Constitution defines marriageas between two consenting adults.2004: Then-Attorney General PatriciaMadrid rules clerks are prohibited from issu-ing licenses to same-sex couples.Tuesday: A new opinion by City AttorneyGeno Zamaro states there is no impedimentto same-sex marriages in NewMexico.Wednesday: Doña Ana County clerk for-mally asks Attorney General Gary King toissue an opinion supporting the argument.

Lesbian couples suestate for right to marry

obituariesDr. Richard E. Bantz, 78,Scottsdale, Ariz., Feb. 27Lawrence Carrillo, 40, Santa Fe, March 17Jean Wilkinson Higgins, 97,Santa Fe, March 9Susan Pagano Jack, 58, Santa Fe, March 15Mary Alice Sanchez, 74, Santa Fe, March 14John Ed Wheeless, 64, Santa Fe, March 18Robert Wertheim, 80, Albuquerque,March 19

pAge C-2

todayBreezy, cooler.High 60,low 25.pAge C-4

Struggling with substance abuseStudents take a stand against drugs through a programcalled Student Wellness Action Team. generAtIon next, D-1

From left, Brig. Gen. Andrew Salas, Navajo Code Talker Bill Toledo, Santa Fe National Cemetery Director CliffShields and Daughters of the American Revolution state regent Zadeea Jean Graham Harris unveil the newmonument during Thursday’s ceremony. PhoTos by ClyDeMueller/The NewMexiCAN

LASTINGLEGACYNew monument pays tribute to World War IINavajos who saved lives with their languageBy Robert NottThe New Mexican

The Navajo Code Talkersweren’t exactly the silentwarriors of World War II —they did talk, after all. But

nobody — not even soldiers fromtheir own side or Navajos who werenot versed in the code — knew whatthey were saying. The Japanese cer-tainly couldn’t break the code.

“We were just a bunch of teenagers,but before we arrived, the Japanesewere breaking our codes on a dailybasis,” said 87-year-old Roy Haw-thorne, a Navajo Marine veteran whoserved as a Code Talker on variousSouth Pacific islands from 1942 to1945. “When the Navajos arrived withtheir code, it was a whole new ball-game. The face of the Navajo changed:Instead of us losing, we were win-ning,” he said.

On Thursday, the Navajo CodeTalkers won another round when theNew Mexico State Organization of theDaughters of the American Revolu-tion paid homage to their legacy byunveiling the Navajo Code TalkerMonument in the Santa Fe NationalCemetery. Three Code Talkers —Hawthorne, Bill Toledo and ChesterNez — attended, as did members oftheir families and several local digni-

“ I wasthe firstone in line. Iwanted to dosomething formy country.”Chester NezSeveral surviving members ofthe Navajo Code Talkers fromWorld War II attended theunveiling ceremony for a newmonument to the Code Talkerson Thursday at the Santa FeNational Cemetery.

Familiesidentifycrashvictims

Please see ACLU, Page A-4

Police have yet to releasedetails on Tuesday nightaccident at Tano Road

AngelaSleboda

EricSverre

Mother accused in son’sdeath blames co-defendant

Please see BLAMeS, Page A-4

Please see LegACy, Page A-4

Please see CrASh, Page A-4

★★