Chronology of a Murder: Dec. 21-22, 1981

1) 11:30am-1:30pm – Hobbs, N.M.: Father Ryan leaves James Harry Reyos at the bondsman's house. Reyos retrieves his truck, visits a bar with a friend, buys a gas cap at an auto parts store (receipt). Reyos drops his friend off at home around 1:30pm. He then leaves Hobbs, picks up a hitchhiker, and drives to a Roswell, N.M., bus station.

2) 4:30pm – Artesia, N.M.: At 4:30pm, Reyos buys gasoline in Artesia (receipt).

3) 6-8:30pm – Roswell, N.M.: Reyos drives around Roswell, buys beer at a convenience store (receipt). He meets a friend, David Myer; they drink and talk at Myer's house until about 8:30pm.

4) 7:30pm-midnight – Odessa, Texas: Under an assumed name, Father Ryan checks into the Sand and Sage Motel in Odessa between 7:30 and 8pm. The state's forensic pathologist concludes that Ryan was murdered sometime between 7pm and midnight; though the crime scene indicated a violent struggle, a guest next door heard nothing from Ryan's room after 9pm.

5) 8:30-1pm – Tatum, N.M.: Reyos says he drove to Bottomless Lake State Park. Receipt dated Dec. 21 shows he bought gasoline in Tatum, 60 miles east of the park.

6) 12:15am – west of Roswell: Reyos ticketed for speeding by a state trooper, 15 miles west of Roswell. The trooper noted nothing about Reyos' appearance – such as bloody clothes or cuts on his hands or face – that would be expected if he had just committed a brutal murder in Odessa.

7) 4am – Roswell: Reyos drives his truck into a ditch east of Roswell; a time-stamped receipt shows that his truck was towed into town at 4am.

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Notes:

• Reyos was with witness David Myer in Roswell, N.M., until approximately 8:30pm.

• Ryan was murdered between 7pm and midnight in Odessa, Texas, a little over 200 miles from Roswell.

• If Reyos drove to Odessa immediately upon leaving Myer's house, he had to average approximately 127 mph for the round trip over two-lane roads in order to get to Odessa, kill the priest at about 10:15pm, clean up, drive 215 miles back to west of Roswell, and turn back, heading east again, in time to be pulled over by the state trooper at 12:15am.

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Texas is in the Central time zone; New Mexico is in the Mountain time zone. To avoid confusion, all times have been changed to Central time.