Police: Missing teacher murdered

Posted at: 09/25/2009 3:36 PM | Updated at: 09/26/2009 4:38 PM
By: Antoinette Antonio, Eyewitness News 4; Charlie Pabst, KOB.com

It's the end that family members of 61-year-old Ellen Roth had been fearing. The APS teacher, who disappeared in may, was found buried in the Jemez Mountains on Friday.

Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz said 61-year-old Ellen Roth, an APS schoolteacher for 25 years, was murdered in her garage on May 4 as she was getting ready to go to work.

Police say the people who murdered her were getting revenge for her son, who she adopted as a baby.

The group of suspects includes Ellen Roth's daughter-in-law.

Police say they were trying to get revenge for Roth's 19-year-old son, who was behind bars after Roth reported him to police for stealing.

A school teacher for more than two decades at Chelwood Elementary, 61-year-old Ellen Roth is being remembered as someone who was passionate, caring and patient with her students.

Chelwood teacher Michaeli Smith said Friday, "Ellen really had a simple way with kids."

But, police say she was also the target of a vengeful murder plot.

They say the motive was to get back at the woman for pressing charges against her son Brian.

At the time of the murder, he was in jail�accused of stealing his mom's checks and credit cards.

Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz said, "These individuals have shown absolutely no remorse in this case at all. They killed Miss Roth because of the actions she took to press charges against her son for the crimes committed against her."

For months, former students, other teachers and family members circulated fliers about the missing teacher.

One flier, created by an anonymous teacher, mentioned Brian, who Roth adopted as a newborn, as a person of interest in the case.

The poster included pictures of both Brian and his wife.

Chief Schultz said, "All the subjects in this case made a pact, and had promised not to disclose what had happened with each other."

Four people have been arrested in the woman's murder, including Cathleen Nielson-Roth, Ellen's daughter-in-law. Chrisopher Donovan and James Johnson are also charged with an open count of murder. Bella Gonzales has been charged with conspiracy and tampering with evidence.

Christopher Donovan, Cathleen Nielson-Roth and James Johnson have all been charged with Ellen Roth's murder.

Police say the group hid Roth's body at Gonzales' home before taking her body to the Jemez Mountains to bury her.

Meanwhile, the news of Roth's death has spread throughout APS.

Fellow teachers at Chelwood Elementary are focusing on Ellen Roth's life, not the way she died.

Smith said, "Remember the things about Ellen that make you smile, because those are the things that keep us going and help us remember to be good people that we should always be."

Even though Brian Roth was in jail at the time of the murder, police think he may have been involved with the plot, but he has not been charged with anything in connection with his mother's death.

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