Double-homicide suspect Andrew Whittenberg was reportedly high on methamphetamine, paranoid and asking for help in the early morning hours of Oct. 21, 2024.
His drug-fueled state allegedly led to a crime spree that ended in the deaths of Kelly Heath, 45, and Brent Francis, 24, both of Farmington.
Whittenberg, 36, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, a second-degree felony; tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony; possession of a firearm by a felon, a third-degree felony; and larceny of a firearm, a fourth-degree felony.
Whittenberg’s contact with law enforcement began in the early morning hours, when San Juan County Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Bull was called at 3:52 a.m. to a home in the Anasazi Estates.
Karren Parret reported a man was attempting to get into her home. She identified him in court as Whittenberg, who was shown on a video trying her door handle and asking for help.
Despite this being a potential probation violation for Whittenberg, Deputy Bull removed him from the property and drove him to the Animas Valley Mall in Farmington.
From there Whittenberg walked down English Road, where Michael Owen said he made eye contact with him through his car’s windshield.
“He was crossing the intersection, we made eye contact,” Owen told the jury. “When he crossed in front of the car and the headlights got him, I got a good look.”
Owen identified Whittenberg in court as the man he saw around 5 a.m. at the intersection of English Road and Kayenta Drive.
What Owen didn’t know was that Whittenberg would reportedly walk to the man’s house in the 4900 block of Kayenta Drive and would allegedly break in by entering through a doggy door at the rear of the home.
Linda Owen, who was home, told the jury she came face-to-face with him.
“When I opened my bedroom door there was a gentleman standing there. He was yelling, ‘Where’s Kelly at? Where’s Kelly at?’” Linda said, adding Whittenberg then “walked back into the office and started ruffling with things on the desk.”
Linda ran into the bedroom, where her daughter-in-law Jessica Curley was hiding with her three children.
Curley cried as she testified and listened to her 9-1-1 call that morning. She told dispatch, “There’s a guy with a gun in the house. He’s yelling for someone named Kelly. There’s no one named Kelly here.”
Whittenberg left the house, allegedly with an Anderson AR-15 rifle and ammunition that belonged to Michael Owen.
It was shortly after 5 a.m. and gunfire started.
Isaac Pena, Owen’s neighbor, told the jury he heard three shots.
“I was in the military. I knew it was a gunshot,” Pena said, adding he “threw on his body armor” grabbed his own firearm and climbed on his roof to assess the situation.
Prosecutor Andrea Reeb asked Pena if he could identify the type of gunfire by sound.
Pena said he heard AR-15 gunfire more than a million times, and “the higher pitch ping of the noise sounded exactly like an AR.”
Defense Attorney Marie Legrand Miller objected to the testimony saying Pena was not an expert, and 11th Judicial District Court Judge Curtis Gurley sustained her objection.
“I’m striking the testimony,” Gurley said and ordered the jury to disregard the statement.
Whittenberg reportedly walked to a home in the 2900 block of English Road, where it is alleged he made contact with his former girlfriend Kelly Heath and shot her in the yard.
Whittenberg’s brother Anthony Miller was staying in a tent on the property at the time.
Anthony told the jury he awoke to the sounds of gunfire and found bullet holes in his vehicle and the dead woman behind it.
“I glanced. There was somebody behind my vehicle. It was a lady. Her name was Kelly. She was behind my vehicle. I freaked out. She was bleeding,” Anthony said. “I don’t really know what happened. I wanted to get her medical attention.”
Whittenberg’s brother awoke Sham Hawkins by banging on his bedroom window, Hawkins told the jury.
Hawkins said Anthony “was very distraught, scared, confused and didn’t want to be in this situation.”
Hawkins said Anthony told him, “Andrew was in my yard killing people.”
When questioned by Reeb, his brother denied saying that.
“I don’t know if I said anything. I heard gunshots. I don’t want to get shot either. I want the police over here. I want to be protected,” Anthony told Reeb.
He also repeatedly told Reeb, “I care for him, yes I care for him,” when asked about his relationship with Whittenberg.
Legrand Miller also questioned Whittenberg’s brother by asking him if he was being honest.
“Yes, I’m honest. If you want to give me a lie-detector test today, I will. I’m honest. I go to church,” Anthony said. “I just seen Kelly behind my vehicle and was concerned about getting her medical attention.”
His brother also told Legrand Miller that he is “not afraid” of Whittenberg.
Legrand Miller then asked Hawkins if he was a felon and a methamphetamine addict.
Hawkins admitted to using methamphetamine to deal with the death of his mother. He also said that he picked up the felony charge in August 2025 and was not a convicted felon at the time of the incident.
Hawkins also told Legrand Miller that he used methamphetamine with Whittenberg, whom he had known for nearly 30 years. She asked if Whittenberg acted differently when using the drug.
“He definitely acted night and day when he’d do it,” Hawkins said, adding Whittenberg would talk about “the people that loved him trying to do something dirty to him.”
Legrand Miller said in her opening statement that Whittenberg was taking methamphetamine on Oct. 21, 2024.
Daniel Garcia, who lived along English Road, testified that he came into contact with Whittenberg at 5:15 a.m.
“I remember hearing someone at the mailboxes where I live. I heard some guy – a white guy – I went outside and told him, ‘Hey what are you doing,” Garcia said. “He was banging on the sides of the mailboxes. He was spun out. He was tweaked the (expletive) out.”
Legrand Miller said in her opening that her client “was in a rough place,” adding he had been wandering around Farmington.
Whittenberg reportedly wandered from English Road to Ralph W. Miller, a business in the 3700 block of Herrera Road, where he allegedly met Victor Johnson.
Johnson was the first one to arrive at the company that does general distribution and oil field work.
He put on the coffee and had some quiet time reading his Bible, when Whittenberg allegedly walked into the business.
Johnson recently went blind and was unable to identify Whittenberg in court, but he did pick him out of photo lineup right after the incident. He also identified Whittenberg during a Nov. 8, 2024, preliminary hearing.
What Johnson was able to do during the trial was describe Whittenberg’s demeanor the day of the shootings.
“He was nervous. He was jumpy. He was breathing hard. He was anxious, very anxious,” Johnson said, adding that Whittenberg asked for a glass of water and a ride to Ramah.
“I told him that I had workers coming. Let me get with the workers and we’ll see what we can do,” Johnson said. He asked Whittenberg to go outside and wait on the porch.
Whittenberg reportedly complied, but once outside allegedly began shooting.
“I heard him yell out an obscenity,” Johnson said. Reeb told him to go ahead and say it. “He yelled out, ‘You mother (expletive) and then I heard bang, bang, bang, bang. He was shooting into Brent’s truck. It was close-range, 30-40 foot away.”
Brent Francis, the second victim, had arrived at work moments before and backed into a parking place at Ralph W. Miller.
Johnson said he looked out the front window.
“I could see him shooting into the driver’s side of the vehicle,” Johnson said, adding he left out the backdoor.
Francis was shot multiple times and died at the scene.
A ballistic expert, Matthew Bustmante, testified that the bullet casings found at the scene came from the Anderson rifle stolen from the Owen’s residence.
That same rifle was found by Farmington Police, discarded in a nearby alley behind Theodore Martinez’s house.
Martinez testified that he saw Whittenberg “come out of the alley.”
He identified Whittenberg in court and said he was 85% sure it was the same man.
Whittenberg also was allegedly captured at 5:48 a.m. on a video recording from a home on Best Street. Jermayne Smith testified that the camera was pointed toward the alley and he provided Farmington police with the video.