Santa Fe New Mexican (Newspaper) - June 17, 2009, Santa Fe, New MexicoTHE SANTA FENEW^MEXICAN WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17,2009 * www.santafenewmexican.com 50 CENTSMan gets 30 years in summer slaying John La Bombard pleads guilty to 2008 shooting in Santa Fe National Forest By Jason Auslander The New Mexican A 36-year-old man will spend the next 30 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to an execution-style killing last summer in the Santa Fe National Forest A state district judge accepted John La Bombard’s plea deal — in which charges of kidnapping, conspiracy and tampering with evidence were dropped in exchange for his plea to first-degree murder — despite the wishes of the victim’s mother. Lil Snee, mother of 39-year-old Frank Segura, admitted she initially agreed to the deal but was never told by the District Attorney’s Office that a life sentence in New Mexico meant 30 years in prison without the possibility of parole. Snee said she didn’t learn about the 30-year rule until Friday and would never have agreed to dropping pursuit of the death penalty against La Bombard if she had known. “I agreed out of ignorance,” she said. “Now I not only feel victimized by La Bombard but also by the justice system.” Please see SLAYING, Page A-6 John La Bombard Sr. pats his son, John La Bombard, on the shoulder Tuesday during the younger man’s sentencing in District Court. La Bombard received a 30-year sentence after pleading guilty to the execution-style killing of Frank Segura last summer. Luis Sanchez Saturno The New Mexican Back With a Splash Photos by Luis Sanchez Saturno/The New Mexican Kids learn the backstroke Tuesday at the Santa Fe Boys and Girls Club pool. More than 20 private individuals and two foundations helped raise close to $40,000 in the past few weeks to reopen the pool. The pool is open to children and teens ages 5-18 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Donations allow Boys and Girls Club to reopen pool By Sandra Baltazar Martinez The New Mexican The sun is out and children are happily splashing in the swimming pool. The Santa Fe Boys and Girls Club on Alto Street — which at one point didn’t have enough money to operate its swimming program this summer — found enough donors to help re-open the outdoor pool The club announced a few weeks back that its budget had shrunk and it had to prioritize its services, which meant shutting down the pooL Al Padilla, the organization’s chief professional officer, said the club, which had needed at least $35,000 to offer the swimming program, managed to raise close to $40,000 in the past few weeks. “We had (calls from) over 20 Please see SPLASH, Page A-6 Swimming instructor Robin Romero, 20, center, shows diving techniques to Elijah Mares, 9, and Kaine Chavez, 8, at right. Error put SFHS on ‘Newsweek’ list of top schools Despite glitch, two New Mexico schools still make the cut By John Sena The New Mexican On Monday, Santa Fe High School was on Newsweek magazine’s list of America’s 1,500 best public high schools. By Tuesday, it wasn’t. A mix-up by the national publication resulted in this city’s largest high school getting credit for data gathered from another Santa Fe High School, that one in Alachua, Fla., near Gainesville. Schools with identical names proved to be a problem for the computer program that Newsweek used to sort masses of information. State Secretary of Education Veronica Garcia, who on Monday had issued a news release congratulating three New Mexico schools for making the list, issued a revised statement Tuesday noting the magazine’s error regarding Santa Fe and Please see ERROR, Page A-4 Document details Penn inquiry Informant recorded dealer before search in artifact investigation By Tom Sharpe The New Mexican A search of Forrest Fenn’s Santa Fe home last week by federal agents resulted from visits by a confidential informant and other secret surveillance of the dealer in Native American artifacts. Twenty-three people have been arrested so far in an investigation into excavating, buying and selling of pottery, sandals and other federally protected items from the Four Comers Area. Fenn, who has not been charged with any crime, began dealing in art and artifacts in Santa Fe in 1972. He has not been available for comment since the June IO search of his Old Santa Fe Trail home by agents of the FBI, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department. Hie agents have not yet indicated what they found in Fenn’s home. But an affidavit by BLM special agent Noel Wagner accompanying the request for a search warrant indicates the investigation began in 2006 with the “development” of an unidentified informant. The informant, called SU6129 in the affidavit, had been a “major dealer of archaeological artifacts over the past IO years," has many contacts among “excavators, dealers, and collectors of stolen and illegally obtained artifacts” and has had “a chronic problem” with violations of the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, according to Wagner. Wagner wrote that agents monitored conversations between SU6129, Fenn and Bill Schenck via a transmitter worn by the informant. William Clinton “Billy” Schenck, who was not available for comment, is a Santa Fe artist, photographer and Please see INQUIRY, Page A-4 Forrest Fenn More to do today in Calendar, Page A-2 Index Annie's Mailbox. Calendar............. Santa Fe Clay Summer Slide Lecture Series “Scratching the Surface,” by ceramist Shoko Teruyama, 7 p.m., Santa Fe Clay, 1615 Paseo de Peralta. Call 984-1122 for more information. LOCAL NEWS Meeting the neighbors Bobcat swings by Santa Fe home of recently transplanted Manhattanites. Page C-l SPORTS Tending to the horses Mine That Bird proves Woolley brothers’ training operation running strong in New Mexico. Page B l r- OBITUARIES Ralph Anthony Chavez, 48, June 12 Josefina Lujan. 93, June 15 Felice L Macias, 83, Santa Fe, June 14 Pearl Annette Salazar, 53, June ll Theresa Sena, 46, June 13 Helen L Trujillo. 70, Santa Fe, June 15 Page C-2 Online Discover new flavors, learn to cook and feast your eyes on new recipes and methods at www.etastesantafe.com Classifieds.....................E-l Comics.................... E-6 .0-3 Crossword.....................D-3 .A-2 Horoscope....................D-3 Local news....................C-l Lotteries........................A-2 Obituaries .............C-2 Opinion..........................A-5 Police notes..................C-2 Scoreboard...................B-2 Sports ...................B-l Taste..............................0-1 Main office.,.........983-3303 Late paper ......986-3010 Classifieds...........986-3000 News tips............986-3035 Five sections, 26 pages 160th year. Issue No. 168 Publication No. 596-440 TODAY Breezy and partly cloudy. High 81, low 50. PageD-4 A locally owned and independent newspaper, serving New Mexico for 160 years Managing editor. Hob Dean. 986-3033, rdean&sfnewmexwan. com T '* & Design and headlines: Jennifer Munkelwitz, jmunlcelwitziQ sfnewmexican.com BEYOND BU