Twenty years ago today, two men entered a bowling alley in Las Cruces and committed one of the worst crimes in New Mexico’s history.
Seven people — Ida Holguin, Paula Holguin, Amy Houser, Melissa Repass, Stephanie C. Senac, and Steven and Valerie Teran — were forced to the floor at gunpoint. After the assailants stole thousands of dollars from the safe, each of the seven individuals was shot at close range.
The men fled the alley, but not before starting a fire on the desk.
Repass, only 12-years-old at the time, was able to call police, despite the encroaching flames and her wounded head.
Repass, Senac and Holguin are the only survivors who walked away alive. Horrifically, the men responsible for their trauma, as well as for the deaths of a father and three children, remain at large to this day.
Charlie Minn said he hopes his new film, “A Nightmare in Las Cruces,” will help change that.
“I watched (the case) on ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ 20 years ago when I was living in Boston,” he said. “I was struck, floored, angered, saddened … because the crime was so barbaric.”
The brutality toward children, in particular, stayed with Minn long after the show aired. When he moved to Albuquerque to be a sportscaster in 1992, he constantly discussed the case, and periodically called the Las Cruces Police Department for new information. Nothing was ever found.
“The case, after 20 years, has gotten so … dormant,” Minn said. “I’m trying to revive something that I think was forgotten about.”
In addition to containing footage from the scene of the crime and interviews with police officers and surviving victims, the film includes a dramatized version of the incident.
Minn said shooting the scenes and getting involved in the remake of a tragedy was emotionally draining.
“When you make a film, you have to immerse yourself in the topic,” he said. “I’ve been living and dying with this thing, 24/7 since August. And this is not a happy story, so it takes a lot out of you, especially when you’re becoming close to the victim’s families and they’re living with such torture.”
He said the encouragement from people in Las Cruces helped him keep his goal of finding answers.
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“Of course, you always have to earn their trust, when they’re not sure who you are and what your agenda is … but the cast and crew were totally devoted to the cause, to the efforts of trying to find closure and justice for these families … and I think the community was extremely supportive,” he said.
Minn also said the local police department played a big role in getting the film off the ground, helping him get in touch with the people closely involved in the case. In the end, the department’s goal is his goal, and ultimately the goal of “A Nightmare in Las Cruces” is to bring about the actual capture of the two men that perpetrated the crime, Minn said.
“It’s about talking about what happened, re-capping that morning,” he said. “What I’m trying to do is increase awareness about a crime that has faded — to resuscitate something, and hopefully it will lead to an arrest. If nobody talks about it, it can’t be solved.”
If anyone has any information about the case, please contact Las Cruces Police Department Detective Mark Myers at 575-528-4101, or Crime Stoppers at 575-526-8000.
*“A Nightmare In Las Cruces” premiere
The Guild Cinema
3405 Central Ave. N.E.
Wednesday and Thursday
9:15 p.m.
$7
BowlingMassacre.com*
