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Fort Sumner woman may take plea in death

A Fort Sumner woman accused of killing her grandfather and hiding his body in a tool chest in 2020 is scheduled to be in court today to consider a plea agreement in the case.

Candy Jo Webb, 27 at the time, is accused of killing A.J. Harden, 83, in 2020.

The plea hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today in the Clovis courtroom of Judge Ben Cross.

Andrea Reeb, special prosecutor in the case, said the agreement calls for Webb to plead guilty to charges of second-degree murder, tampering with evidence and fraud. If Webb agrees to the deal, she would face a maximum sentence of 21 years in prison. A sentencing hearing would be held in about 30 days, Reeb said.

Webb's attorney, Tomas Benavidez of Las Vegas, N.M., confirmed the plea hearing but did not immediately answer questions about the case.

Webb has been held in the De Baca County jail since she was arrested in October 2020.

Family members earlier that year had become concerned with Harden's whereabouts, but Webb told them she'd placed him in a nursing home in Wellington, Texas, and that he didn't want to be contacted. Family members told police they'd last seen Harden in August 2020.

When police began investigating Harden's disappearance, they were unable to locate the nursing home Webb referenced. Webb told police she'd last spoken to her grandfather in September 2020.

In mid-October 2020, Harden's body was found inside a tool chest in the 1900 block of Shenandoah Drive in Fort Sumner, where Webb once lived. Authorities said the body was wrapped in numerous blankets and black duct tape around his mouth and a leg.

The man who called authorities, Chad Abeyta, said he had lived at the address for approximately five months and had noticed the toolbox in a ditch behind his backyard with other debris. He noticed the tool chest was in good condition, but did not inspect it until a relative inquired about taking it. Upon inspection, the man was met with an overwhelming foul odor.

About a week after Harden's body was discovered, a man described in court records as Webb's boyfriend, Garrett Beene, contacted New Mexico State Police through his attorney. Beene told police that Webb told him her grandfather had asked Webb to kill him. Records show Webb allegedly gave Harden Xanax and Ambien until his heart stopped.

Beene also told police that Webb had told her Harden died in his sleep in September and that Webb had notified the Fort Sumner fire department to retrieve his body. But records showed no such emergency medical service.