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SANTA FE, N.M. The man convicted of murdering a 75-year-old Santa Fe man and then burning his body had his “warrior gene” defense rejected yet again by the New Mexico Supreme Court.
The New Mexico Supreme Court last week upheld Anthony Blas Yepez’s 22½ year sentence for the murder of George Ortiz in 2012.
Yepez was found guilty in 2015 by a Santa Fe jury for second-degree murder, evidence tampering and motor vehicle theft.
Yepez, 34, appealed his case on a warrior gene defense that wasn’t allowed into evidence in his original trial by 1st Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer. The judge ruled that there wasn’t any evidence that demonstrates the warrior gene results in a predisposition towards aggressive behavior.