Authorities said Zachary Ryan Babitz was under supervision and wearing a GPS monitor before the New Mexico attacks.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A former New Mexico prisoner who authorities said cut off a GPS ankle monitor before killing an 83-year-old man has pleaded guilty to federal charges under a deal calling for life in prison.
Zachary Ryan Babitz, 40, admitted to a series of armed robberies, carjackings and firearm crimes that prosecutors said began in Albuquerque and ended in Las Cruces after the fatal shooting of Gordon Wilson in Santa Fe. The plea agreement shifted the case away from a possible death penalty trial and toward life imprisonment. It also returned attention to Babitz’s release from state prison months before the crimes and to the supervision records that helped investigators place him at one robbery before the monitor was removed.
Babitz had been sentenced in 2019 to 23 years in prison for robbery and receiving or transferring stolen motor vehicles, according to state corrections officials. A judge suspended all but 10 years of that term. Officials said Babitz also received credit for 173 days already served and earned 30 days of good-time credit per month. He was released March 12, 2024, with two years of parole to be followed by five years of probation. By late July, police said, he was required to wear a GPS ankle monitor. By early August, authorities said, he had removed it.
The monitor became part of the evidence trail in the first major public link between Babitz and the 2024 robbery sequence. Albuquerque police said he was wearing the device when a Wells Fargo bank at 11199 Montgomery Blvd. NE was robbed on July 31. Detectives said the GPS data placed him at the bank at 1:55 p.m., the time of the robbery. Prosecutors said the robber presented a demand note, indicated he was armed and took about $3,300. Police said witness descriptions, photos and information about a gold Chevrolet Tahoe registered to Babitz also helped connect him to the bank case.
The federal case showed that the Wells Fargo robbery was not the first charged event. Prosecutors said Babitz entered an AutoZone in Albuquerque on July 30 with a 9mm handgun, demanded money from an employee and stole about $345. Three days after the bank robbery, prosecutors said, he robbed a Jersey Mike’s restaurant at gunpoint, took cash from the register and forced an employee to open a safe. Those crimes formed the early part of the federal indictment and showed what authorities described as escalating conduct before the Santa Fe killing.
Wilson was killed Aug. 6, 2024, during a carjacking in the parking lot of the Best Buy at 3533 Zafarano Drive in Santa Fe. Authorities said Babitz confronted Wilson with a firearm, shot him and stole his vehicle. Wilson was 83 and had spent years as a leader in archaeology preservation after a long finance career. Santa Fe police later said they did not know why Wilson was targeted. Capt. Thomas Grundler said the daylight attack in a public place shocked the conscience. Police Chief Paul Joye said Babitz “never should have been out” and said he had cut off his ankle monitor before the crime.
The supervision issue became sharper because police said the monitor was useful before it disappeared. Albuquerque detectives were investigating the bank robbery when they learned Santa Fe police had identified Babitz as the homicide suspect. Santa Fe police shared the stolen Jeep’s location and a tentative identification. Albuquerque detectives set up a perimeter around the vehicle, then reviewed Babitz’s background, physical description, home address history and registered vehicle. They found the Tahoe in license plate reader records near the bank and matched images from the robbery to motor vehicle and jail booking photos. The device that recorded his location at the bank was no longer on him before Wilson was shot.
After the Santa Fe killing, prosecutors said, Babitz continued into another round of violence. On Aug. 9, he carried out another carjacking in Bernalillo County, according to federal court documents. On Aug. 10, authorities said, he and an accomplice entered an Arby’s restaurant in Las Cruces, pointed a gun at an employee and stole cash. Later that day, prosecutors said, the pair participated in an armed carjacking and forced a victim from a vehicle. Police said Babitz was arrested after a crash and foot chase, while the woman with him escaped. Her later status has not been made clear in the public accounts of the case.
The federal plea agreement listed charges across the whole sequence. Babitz pleaded guilty to two counts of interference with commerce by robbery, one count of bank robbery, one count of carjacking resulting in death, one count of using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence and causing death through firearm use and possession, one count of carjacking, aiding and abetting robbery and carjacking counts, firearm brandishing counts and one count of felon in possession of a firearm. Federal prosecutors had previously placed the death penalty under consideration, but the plea agreement calls for life imprisonment instead.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with assistance from the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office, Santa Fe police, Albuquerque police and Las Cruces police. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Sarah Mauricio, acting special agent in charge of the ATF Phoenix Field Division, announced the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maria Elena Stiteler and Natasha Moghadam are handling the prosecution. A federal judge must still take the final step of sentencing Babitz, but the agreement states that life imprisonment is the appropriate disposition.
Wilson’s death continues to stand apart from the procedural record. The Archaeological Conservancy said he was its board chair, had served on its board for two decades and helped guide preservation plans for 25 to 30 sites. He was also a former finance executive, a supporter of Native student education and a volunteer tax preparer. Colleague Mark Michel described him as gentle, respected and liked by those who met him. The guilty plea gives the criminal case a clear end point, but it does not answer why Wilson was chosen in the parking lot that morning.
As of May 10, 2026, Babitz awaits formal sentencing in federal court under the life sentence agreement. The unresolved public questions center on the motive for Wilson’s killing, the accomplice’s final status and the court date for final judgment.
Author note: Last updated May 10, 2026.