A man who was “tired of living with his lies” called the police on himself to confess that he had killed his landlord “for no reason” nearly 15 years ago, and had made attempts to hide it ever since.
A missing person investigation that had been open since December 2008 was finally closed by authorities after Tony Peralta, 37, used a borrowed phone to call 911 and confess.
Since William Blodgett, 69, vanished and his corpse was never discovered, the case had become cold until Peralta abruptly admitted guilt a month ago.
He made a call to the Roswell Police Department in New Mexico on May 1 while at a convenience shop and waited for authorities to show up while sitting on a nearby curb.
When police arrived, police bodycam footage shows Peralta smoking a cigarette and telling them that he is sick of having to live with his lie and his guilt every single day
Then, without being asked, he stands up and puts his hands behind his back so that he can be handcuffed. As the cops lead him to a patrol car, he expresses gratitude.
“I’m just tired of covering it up. I’m tired of living with my life, sir”
Officers were reportedly first dubious of his confession because Peralta could not recall many specifics of the killing. However, Peralta claimed them he could lead them to the location where he had buried his landlord’s body.
Peralta acknowledged that he had been using meth at the time and that there was no justification for killing his landlord, who was, in his words, usually friendly.
He said: “I’m just tired of covering it up. I’m tired of living with my life, sir.”
He then added: “I killed somebody, dude. I killed him with a screwdriver.”
In a video shot at the police station, Peralta can be seen sobbing while talking to the officers about the murder’s specifics.
On January 3, 2009, Mr. Blodgett’s son Greg reported him missing after his family had been unable to contact him for more than ten days.
It was determined after a police inquiry that the landlord had a problem with his renter, who was ultimately identified as Peralta, and had attempted to evict him at the time.
Detectives spoke with Peralta, according to the criminal document, but “no new leads” came from the conversation.
Nothing was found despite investigators searching the house and the neighborhood. The statement further stated that Mr. Blodgett’s car was still parked at the residence and that no withdrawals had been made from his bank account. When all leads were exhausted, the police decided to close the case.
