New Mexico Judge Killed in Apparent Murder-Suicide

The bodies of Judge Diane Albert, 65, and her husband Eric Pinkerton, 63, were found by police Friday in their home in the Village of Los Ranchos in a suspected murder-suicide. Several dogs and a cat were also found dead at the scene.

Police first found the bodies of Albert and Pinkerton in their home on the 800 block of Ranchitos Road after a friend of the couple alerted the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office after receiving “troubling message” from Pinkerton on Friday.

KOAT-TV reported that Pinkerton left a voicemail on a friend’s phone saying he had killed his wife, their dogs, and cat.

Albert leaves behind a long legacy of public service in the wake of her death. In 2021, she was elected municipal judge in the Village of Los Ranchos. She also was a former planning and zoning commissioner for the North Valley community according to the Santa Fe New Mexican. She also was the president of the Bike Coalition of New Mexico.

During her time in Los Alamos County, she served as a county commissioner. From 1996-1997, she was the president of the League of Women’s Voters and was awarded with the Governor’s Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women in 1996, 2000 and 2003.

New Mexico State auditor, Brian S. Colon, remembered his friend as “a kindhearted soul who always uplifted me and others.” He said she “always entered our home with a smile and usually wearing her bicycle helmet.”