Zachary Ryan Babitz has agreed to a plea deal that will send him to prison for life after pleading guilty to federal charges in the killing of an 83-year-old man during a carjacking at a Best Buy in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The 40-year-old was released from prison just months earlier and went on a crime spree that included bank and restaurant robberies. Prosecutors dropped the death penalty as part of the agreement.
Zachary Ryan Babitz, 40, pleaded guilty to charges including carjacking resulting in death, bank robbery, and carrying a firearm during a crime causing death, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Mexico. The plea deal ensures a life sentence, with federal prosecutors taking over the case from state authorities and forgoing the death penalty. Babitz targeted Gordon Wilson, 83, in the parking lot of a Best Buy at 3533 Zafarano Dr. around 10:30 a.m. on August 6, 2024, shooting him before stealing his vehicle, police said. Wilson had retired from investment management and volunteered with a nonprofit archaeology organization for decades. He once wrote that archaeology reveals the outcomes of ancient economic and social experiments, from pueblos to empires. The spree began on July 31, 2024, when Babitz, still wearing a GPS ankle monitor, robbed a Wells Fargo bank in Albuquerque around 2 p.m. He cut off the monitor and continued with the Santa Fe robbery. On August 10, Babitz and an unidentified woman robbed an Arby's in Las Cruces at gunpoint around 6:30 p.m., then carjacked another woman before crashing and fleeing on foot. Police arrested Babitz at the scene; the woman escaped. Santa Fe Police Chief Paul Joye told reporters that Babitz 'never should have been out,' noting his early release from a 2019 sentence for robbery and stolen vehicles on March 12, 2024, after serving about 10 years with credits. 'He cut off his ankle monitor and immediately began wreaking havoc,' Joye said. Capt. Thomas Grundler said the motive for targeting Wilson remains unclear, describing the broad-daylight killing as shocking despite falling violent crime rates.
