Johnny Volpato Trials: 1981 & 1986

Volpato appealed to the New Mexico Supreme Court, which in 1985 granted a new trial. An expanded defense team presented three new witnesses in Volpato's second trial in 1986.

One witness, Delores Looney, testified that she saw two men outside The Corner Drugstore at around midnight on the night Elaine Volpato was murdered. As she continued in her car down the street, she said she heard a sound that she later concluded was gunfire. She testified that she had not gone to police because she was afraid of repercussions against her son, who had troubles with the law.

Two nurses who worked at a nearby hospital also testified that they saw two men running from Volpato's drugstore on the night of the murder. They said at the time that they were sure they had witnessed a robbery and reported their suspicions to police. They said police did not take their report seriously. The prosecution countered that, after six years, these new witness accounts were not credible.

The jury apparently thought they were. On October 31, 1986, they found Johnny Volpato not guilty of murdering of his wife. Back in Carlsbad, townsfolk still aren't so sure.