Probation violator linked to 2 killings

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A man now jailed on a probation violation has been named a "person of interest" in a double homicide on the Pajarito Mesa earlier this week.

On Tuesday morning the body of Alfonso Garcia , 41, and another man were found badly burned in the backseat of an SUV on the Pajarito Mesa, police say Garcia was the owner of the SUV.

Probation officers arrested Reynaldo Antonio Vargas Thursday evening calling him a suspect in the two murders who has not yet been charged.

However a statement released Friday afternoon by a spokesperson for Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston said Vargas is not yet considered a suspect in the case.

Vargas and Garcia were members of the same prison gang but belonged to different Albuquerque street gangs, according to the Department of Corrections.

The second victim has not been identified yet but investigators say they are working to determine who they are so they can begin to follow more leads and obtain more evidence in the case.

At this time it is not know if the men died in the fire or were killed first and then brought to the Mesa.