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ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico man has been arrested after calling 911, confessing to a 2008 murder case and telling police where his former landlord’s body was buried, authorities said Tuesday.
Police said Tony Ray Peralta, 37, of Roswell, was booked into the Chaves County jail on suspicion of murder.
They said Peralta went to a store Monday afternoon, borrowed a cellphone to call 911 and told a dispatcher that he had killed someone.
Officers went to the store and Peralta was detained for questioning.
Police investigators then obtained a search warrant for a house where Peralta had been a tenant at the home of 69-year-old William Blodgett.
They said plywood floorboards were removed from a detached room on the side of the house and bones and dentures were found in the buried remains.
The dentures were compared with Blodgett’s dental records — obtained in early 2009 after he was reported missing — and that led to a positive identification, according to police.
Police said Peralta felt a need to confess but couldn’t offer a motive for the killing, which he said was done with a screwdriver.
Blodgett’s girlfriend and family had not seen him since late December 2008. She told police that Peralta allegedly had some sort or argument or fight with Blodgett, who had tried to evict him.
Police said the case went cold after investigators exhausted all leads until Peralta’s 911 call.
It was unclear Tuesday if Peralta has a lawyer yet who can speak on his behalf.
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