Mark Staake was a man whose life took a troubled and public turn long before it ended in violence in an Albuquerque, New Mexico, storage facility. In 2012, he was identified as a son of Sanford Lane Manning of Sandia Park and a grandson of Marjorie Staake of Rio Rancho. His nephew was identified as Tanner Ruane. That same year, Mark Staake, then 41 years old, gained national attention for his role in a bizarre murder-for-hire plot.
The scheme was orchestrated by Dana Martin, a convicted
murderer whom Staake had met in a New Mexico prison. Martin, who was serving life sentences for the 2000 rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl, hired Staake and his nephew, Tanner Ruane, to kill four people. The plot included two acquaintances in Vermont and extended to an audacious plan to murder the pop star Justin Bieber and his bodyguard. Martin was reportedly infatuated with the singer and became angry when his letters went unanswered. The plan was to strangle the first two victims with paisley neckties, Martin's signature, and castrate them. Staake and Ruane traveled from New Mexico to the East Coast, but the plot unraveled when they missed a turn and inadvertently crossed into Canada from Vermont. Staake was arrested at the border on an outstanding New Mexico warrant. In a jailhouse interview, Staake denied knowledge of the murder plot, claiming he was in Vermont to pick up a car promised to him by Martin.
Fourteen years later, on the morning of October 22, 2026, Mark Staake was found dead inside a recreational vehicle at a storage facility on Central Avenue SE in Albuquerque. Officers from the Albuquerque Police Department responded to reports of a shooting at approximately 10:40 a.m. and discovered Staake, who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Witnesses at the facility reported seeing a heavyset man armed with a rifle fleeing the scene. The man drove away in the victim’s gold 2003 Honda Pilot.
Homicide detectives quickly identified a suspect: 38-year-old Epifanio Torres III. The investigation revealed that Staake and Torres had been together the day before the shooting. Surveillance video from October 21 captured the two men purchasing archery equipment. Additional footage showed Torres driving Staake's gold Honda Pilot around the time of the homicide. Police entered the stolen vehicle's information into the National Crime Information Center database.
The search for Torres ended swiftly. Approximately 12 hours after the discovery of Staake's body, license plate readers detected the stolen Honda Pilot in Sierra Blanca, Texas. Deputies with the Ward County Sheriff's Office in Texas located the vehicle and took Torres into custody. A subsequent search of the SUV, conducted by Texas Rangers, uncovered significant evidence. Investigators found blood evidence, a rifle wrapped in a towel, a fully loaded magazine, and spent shell casings that matched the caliber of those found at the murder scene in Albuquerque.
Following his arrest in Texas, an arrest warrant was issued for Epifanio Torres III. He was charged with an open count of murder, armed robbery, tampering with evidence, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. As of late October 2026, Torres was awaiting extradition from Texas back to New Mexico to face the charges related to the killing of Mark Staake. The case is pending litigation.
