APD arrests suspect in December homicide

Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023

ALBUQUERQUE – APD Homicide detectives arrested Matthew Stevens and charged him with the murder of Randy Heider during a confrontation on Dec. 23, 2022, at an Extended Stay motel in Northeast Albuquerque.

Stevens, 32, told detectives he went with a female friend to the motel to get her belongings from the room she had shared with Heider. Stevens and Heider started fighting and Stevens fatally stabbed Heider.

Stevens claimed he was defending himself against Heider, who he said hit him with a crow bar. Stevens said he grabbed and used a knife that belonged to Heider. But Stevens left the motel after the incident without calling police and he said he did not know what happened to the knife.

The female friend who was with Stevens told detectives that Stevens was the aggressor.

Stevens was booked into the Metro Detention Center late Monday on an open count of murder.

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