Richard Oaks, 79, male, was found dead from a gunshot wound on March 7, 2023, inside the couple’s recreational vehicle at the Cuervo Mountain RV Park in Stanley, near Moriarty, New Mexico. Investigators were dispatched after Oaks’ wife phoned their adult daughter and allegedly confessed that she had shot her husband. Deputies arrived to find Richard in a recliner with a fatal wound to his chest.
Accounts referenced in reporting indicate the shooting followed ongoing disputes over his drinking, and that the 911 call from the daughter set the investigation in motion that morning.
Authorities identified the shooter as Faye Oaks, then 85, who, according to a criminal complaint summarized in news coverage, admitted to deputies that she fired the weapon and told them to take her to jail. She was arrested at the scene and charged with an open count of murder. In the days that followed, state prosecutors sought to keep her detained pending trial, citing the circumstances of the killing at the RV park. Public records and memorial listings corroborate the victim’s identity, age, date, and location of death.
