Robert Ray Fry: The Farmington Serial Killer
Overview
Robert Ray Fry is an American serial killer from Farmington, New Mexico, who was convicted of four murders committed in San Juan County between 1996 and 2000. His crimes involved extreme violence and included the murders of Joseph Fleming, Matthew Trecker, Donald Tsosie, and Betty Lee. The cases remained separate investigations for years before detectives connected Fry to all four killings. Fry was eventually convicted in three different murder cases, receiving multiple life sentences as well as a death sentence that was later overturned.
Fry's crimes were not identical, but several shared disturbing characteristics. His victims included people he knew as well as people encountered by chance. Weapons ranged from knives and swords to a shovel and a sledgehammer. In some cases Fry was accompanied by another person, and testimony from those associates later became important evidence against him. The investigation of Betty Lee's murder in 2000 ultimately helped authorities uncover information about the earlier crimes.
Confirmed Victims
- Joseph Fleming — November 29, 1996 — The Eclectic, 109 North Allen Avenue, Farmington, New Mexico. Fleming was killed inside a store known as The Eclectic during the early morning hours following Thanksgiving. He suffered a blow to the head, injuries to his neck, multiple stab wounds, and a cut throat.
- Matthew Trecker — November 29, 1996 — The Eclectic, 109 North Allen Avenue, Farmington, New Mexico. Trecker, who was staying inside the store at the time, was killed during the same attack as Fleming. He suffered multiple stab wounds and severe injuries to his neck caused by edged weapons.
- Donald Tsosie — April 1, 1998 — Head Canyon area, San Juan County, New Mexico. Tsosie was attacked after accepting a ride from Fry and Leslie Engh following a night in Farmington. He was beaten with a stick and shovel, and his body was pushed over a cliff in the Head Canyon area. His remains were discovered on April 29, 1998.
- Betty Lee — June 9, 2000 — Twin Peaks area south of Farmington, San Juan County, New Mexico. Lee was stranded and accepted an offer of transportation from Fry and Engh. Fry drove her to an isolated dirt road, attacked her, stabbed her, and killed her with repeated blows from a sledgehammer during an attempted sexual assault.
The Murders of Joseph Fleming and Matthew Trecker
The first murders for which Fry was eventually convicted occurred during the night of November 28 and the early morning of November 29, 1996. Matthew Trecker and Joseph Fleming were inside The Eclectic, a Farmington store that sold such items as knives, swords, posters, pipes, and other merchandise. Trecker had permission to stay inside the business, while Fleming had come to spend time with him.
According to testimony later presented in court, Fry went to the store that night with Harold Pollack. The men knew Fleming and Trecker and were allowed inside. Evidence presented at Fry's trial indicated that knives were initially stolen from the store and hidden. Fry and Pollack later returned. Pollack testified that he saw Fry struggling with Fleming and eventually saw Fry place a foot on Fleming's throat.
Police discovered the murders the following morning after an employee of a neighboring business noticed that the store's front window had been broken and that a computer monitor was lying outside. Inside, investigators found Fleming and Trecker dead. Fleming had suffered a head injury, multiple stab wounds, trauma to his throat, and a cut across his neck. Trecker had been stabbed repeatedly and had severe injuries around his neck that investigators considered consistent with an attempted decapitation.
Numerous knives and several swords were missing from the business. According to testimony, weapons and Fry's steel-toed work boots were later thrown through the ice at Farmington Lake in an attempt to dispose of evidence. The case remained unresolved for years, but Fry reportedly described details of the murders to several acquaintances. Investigators also documented numerous bloody boot impressions at the crime scene that were consistent with Fry's footwear. He was ultimately convicted of both murders and sentenced to two life terms.
The Murder of Donald Tsosie
Donald Tsosie's killing occurred approximately a year and a half later. On the night of March 31, 1998, Tsosie was in Farmington before accepting a ride involving Fry and Leslie Engh. According to Engh's later account to investigators, Fry began assaulting Tsosie while they were traveling. Tsosie resisted, and the confrontation continued after the vehicle stopped.
Engh told investigators that Fry attacked Tsosie with a stick and ordered Engh to participate. A shovel was also used during the assault. Investigators alleged that Fry struck Tsosie repeatedly before the men searched him for money. Tsosie's body was then pushed over an approximately thirty-foot cliff in the Head Canyon area, south of Farmington and close to the Navajo Nation boundary.
Tsosie's body was not discovered until April 29, 1998, leaving the murder unsolved for more than two years. The breakthrough came after Fry and Engh were investigated for Betty Lee's murder in 2000. Engh supplied detectives with information about Tsosie's death and later testified against Fry. Fry was convicted of murdering Tsosie in 2003 and received another life sentence.
The Murder of Betty Lee
The crime that finally brought Fry under intense scrutiny occurred on June 9, 2000. Betty Lee, a 36-year-old mother of five from Shiprock, was stranded near a Farmington convenience store. Fry was accompanied by Leslie Engh when he encountered Lee and offered her transportation. Instead of simply taking her toward home, Fry drove onto an isolated dirt road in the Twin Peaks area south of Farmington.
According to the evidence and Engh's testimony, Lee attempted to get away after realizing something was wrong. Fry persuaded her back toward the vehicle, but the situation quickly became violent. Fry pulled Lee from the automobile and attempted to remove her clothing while Engh was instructed to restrain her legs. Lee struggled. Fry then stabbed her in the chest with an eight-inch Bowie knife. The wound penetrated her breastbone and the sac surrounding her heart, although it did not penetrate the heart itself.
Lee managed to pull the knife from her chest and throw it away. She attempted to escape again. Fry retrieved a roughly ten-pound sledgehammer from his vehicle, pursued her, and struck her in the back of the head at least three times, with evidence suggesting there may have been as many as five blows. The blunt-force injuries killed her. Fry and Engh then moved Lee's body toward bushes near the ravine and attempted to conceal evidence around the scene.
Fry's vehicle became stuck in the soft ground near the murder site, creating an important trail for investigators. Police recovered the knife and sledgehammer, documented tire tracks and footwear impressions, and located physical evidence connected to Fry. Investigators also found one of Lee's earrings inside Fry's automobile. Blood recovered from Fry's clothing, shoes, vehicle, flashlight, and the weapons was connected to Lee through DNA testing. Blood-spatter evidence provided additional support for the conclusion that Fry had wielded the sledgehammer.
Arrest and Investigation
Betty Lee's body was discovered on the morning of June 9, 2000, by a worker checking power lines in the area. Investigators quickly reconstructed the unusual activity surrounding the vehicles that had become stuck near the crime scene. Fry was arrested on June 11. Engh, who was already in custody on an unrelated matter, eventually provided investigators with information not only about Lee's death but also about the previously unsolved murder of Donald Tsosie.
Detectives subsequently renewed their examination of the 1996 murders at The Eclectic. Witness statements, Fry's reported admissions, physical evidence from the store, and Harold Pollack's account eventually produced a case strong enough to prosecute. What had initially appeared to be several separate acts of violence were ultimately tied to the same offender.
Convictions and Sentences
Fry was convicted of first-degree murder in Betty Lee's death along with kidnapping, attempted criminal sexual penetration, and tampering with evidence. A jury sentenced him to death. He later received a life sentence for killing Donald Tsosie and two additional life sentences for murdering Joseph Fleming and Matthew Trecker. His convictions in the Eclectic case also included offenses connected with stolen property, tampering with evidence, and intimidation of witnesses.
New Mexico abolished the death penalty for future crimes in 2009, but Fry's existing death sentence initially remained in place. On June 28, 2019, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that Fry's death sentence was disproportionate when compared with penalties imposed in similar cases and ordered that it be replaced with a sentence of life imprisonment. His other murder convictions and life sentences remained intact.
Legacy of the Cases
Robert Ray Fry's murders became some of the most notorious homicide cases in northwestern New Mexico. The investigation stretched across several years and required detectives to combine forensic evidence, witness testimony, old crime-scene information, and statements from Fry's associates. The murders of Fleming and Trecker had remained unresolved for years, while Tsosie's death was not connected to Fry until the investigation surrounding Betty Lee exposed information about the earlier killing.
Fry was ultimately held criminally responsible for four murders committed between November 1996 and June 2000. The cases are especially notable for the escalating and highly personal nature of the violence, Fry's efforts to dispose of weapons and other evidence, and the role that physical evidence and testimony played in connecting crimes that originally appeared unrelated. His convictions ensured that, even after his death sentence was vacated, the multiple life sentences arising from the four murders would keep him imprisoned.
